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Much to the delight of many Cardinals fans, it sounds as if the Kevin Kolb era is coming to an end in Arizona. Reports are circulating that the team plans to cut Kolb in the next few days, and coupled with the Drew Stanton signing, this would certainly seem to be the case.
As it stands today, Kolb’s $13.5 million salary cap hit is the highest on the Cardinals in 2013 (the second-highest is Larry Fitzgerald with a $10.25 million). It should also be noted that Kolb’s cap hit this year is the largest in any of the six years on his contract. Kolb’s 2013 cap hit is broken down as follows:
Base salary: $9 million
Prorated signing bonus: $2 million
Roster Bonus: $2 million
Workout Bonus: $500k
The key thing here is the $2 million roster bonus. This bonus is due on Saturday and so Kolb needs to be cut by then to avoid an increase in dead money charges. Right now, Kolb’s release would result in $6 million in dead money on Arizona’s 2013 cap. This dead money is comprised of the remaining signing bonus prorations ($2 million in each of 2013, 2014 and 2015), which by rule accelerates to the current year’s cap if the player is released. As such, if Kolb was released after this upcoming Saturday, that $6 million in dead money would increase to $8 million due to the roster bonus due. Seeing as there’s no way the Cardinals would let that happen, Kolb’s dead money will remain at $6 million and the team will realize a net cap savings of $7.5 million upon his release.
As reported by numerous beat writers, early rumors for Kolb’s next destination include the New York Jets, who have a connection here due to new offensive coordinator Marty Morhinweg. Morhinweg was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia while Kolb was an Eagle from 2007 – 2010, so there may be some interest. Whether or not the interest is strong enough to reach an agreement on monetary terms with the way the Jets are (or should I say, aren’t) spending money this offseason remains to be seen.
Check out the Cardinals salary cap page here
Twitter: @AndrewOTC
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