Stampede Blue
With our current cap situation, it would not appear that we would cut a player for the sole reason of saving money. What would be other reasons to cut a player that most would consider a part of this coming year’s team? An injury is always a possibility, as well as the emergence of a younger or less expensive player. One other possibility might be that the player wants to be gone and a trade partner can’t be found.
According to Spotrac, we sit just shy of 32 million dollars, under the cap, which is good for 7th most in the NFL. I don’t believe there is a player that could become available to us, that would need cap maneuvering to bring aboard. In all honesty, 32 million would be enough to get a veteran WR and a flyer on a DE, as we all have suggested. It would take something or someone that is beyond unseen, for us to cut a player solely for money.
We have also locked down a bunch of our players that would have been due roster bonuses:
Cornerback Charvarius Ward’s $12.9 million 2026 salary is now guaranteed.
Defensive lineman DeForest Buckner earned a $10 million roster bonus.
Safety Cam Bynum’s $10 million 2026 salary is now guaranteed.
$8.3 million of left tackle Bernhard Raimann’s 2027 salary is now guaranteed.
Left guard Quenton Nelson earned a $2 million roster bonus.
Wide receiver and special teamer Ashton Dulin received a $340,000 roster bonus.
What players might get cut, should they get hurt to the level that they would not take the field for us?
We do have president for cutting a player with a bad neck, so not seeing Buck on the field could fuel some speculation. There are two void years on his contract, so even if he looks unable to play this year, I think we’d likely honor his contract. Same with Nelson. If he were unable to go this year, my guess is that we would take the entire year to make sure that gets a new multi-year deal. Should Ward suffer another concussion, his situation would turn into more of a retirement than a cut.
Two that could find themselves out, should they suffer a season ender might be Richardson and Taylor. We would have no future rights to AR, so if he can’t play, he has no value to us. Taylor would be a far more difficult decision. We know that there wont be a “home town” discount and based on his previous stance, he would not give an injury discount either. I don’t think a cut would happen if there was ANY hope that he could play meaningful games late in the season.
This really only leaves the emergence of a cheaper option as a reason to cut a veteran. Just as we went through each position group last week to find a weak link among positional backups, we can do the same to explore rising players. I don’t believe...
