Garry Gilliam, 49ers
Cap Saved: $5.05M; Cash Saved: $5.05M; Dead Money: $0
Gilliam the last two years has made $2.2 and $2.7 million from San Francisco, a perfectly acceptable amount for someone expected to be a backup player. However his salary this year balloons up to $5 million which is low level starter money. They could bring his salary down but it would seem unlikely that he plays at this number.
Donald Penn, Raiders
Cap Saved: $5.48M; Cash Saved: $6.6M; Dead Money: $1.75
Signing Penn proved to be a great move for the Raiders but extending him in 2017 was not. Penn didn’t play well in 2017 which led to a pay cut last season. Penn was hurt most of the year and given that they weren’t happy with his $8.35 million salary last year then they should be equally unhappy this year. Last year he accepted a pay cut and he does have a $1.75 million guarantee so maybe the Raiders offer something but I’d lean more to an outright release.
DJ Humphries, Cardinals
Cap Saved: $9.63M; Cash Saved: $9.63M; Dead Money: $0
This is an example of a questionable use of the rookie option coming back to hurt the team Humphries is simply never healthy and its at the point where you can not count on him. He has shown some upside but he is worth about half this number until he can prove that he can stay healthy and be productive.
Jeremy Parnell, Jaguars
Cap Saved: $6M; Cash Saved: $6M; Dead Money: $0
The Jaguars are going to have to slash some payroll this year and Parnell, entering the final year of his contract, would seem like a good candidate to go. Parnell will be 33 and has missed 6 games in the last two seasons and coming off a season where he started to show a decline in play.
Demar Dotson, Buccaneers
Cap Saved: $4.7M; Cash Saved: $4.73M; Dead Money: $50K
This is basically the same situation as above though he hasn’t missed as many games. The Bucs aren’t in as dire cap shape as the Jaguars but this is a player they could consider releasing.
Jason Peters, Eagles
Cap Saved: $10.5M; Cash Saved: $8M; Dead Money: $2.67M
The only reason I bring up Peters is because his cap number is so high that the Eagles will likely have to address his contract. Peters has accepted new deals in the past though at 37 I’m not sure how far the team would want to go. Id put this as a pretty low probability cut but not a surprising contract modification.