Recapping Todays News…Chiefs, 49ers, and Rams

Kansas City Chiefs– The big news of the day came late with Chiefs RT Eric Winston announcing that he was being released by the Kansas City Chiefs. This is the second time in two seasons that Winston was released but I have a hard time believing he will have trouble finding a home. He may not be a good fit for a team with a new coach as Winston seems to always speak his mind (and I dont mean that in a bad way) which can rub some coaches who dont want to be questioned the wrong way.

The numbers we had on Winston indicated that he was going to count for $6.5 million against the cap but our dead money estimates were far different than those of Pro Football Talk who stated that he received a signing bonus of $8.3 million. Our information indicates that the Chiefs should save $3.5 million in cap room and only carry $3 million in dead money. The Chiefs will save $5.5 million in cash. If I hear otherwise on the contract I’ll fix it.

St. Louis Rams– Andrew touched on this earlier but the Rams released RT Wayne Hunter to save a bit over $4 million in cap room. Hunter was given a starting job with the Jets in 2011 and imploded. It got to the point where the Jets didn’t want him to go to a public family day because he had become such a target to the fans. The two teams eventually swapped contract mistakes with the Rams sending bust Jason Smith to the Jets in return for Hunter. Both players have been released.

San Francisco 49’ers– In a move that had been more or less known for at least a week the 49’ers moved on from K David Akers, creating $3 million of cap room in the process. Akers leg began to really fail down the stretch and considering the Niners tight cap space spending $3.57 million dollars on an older kicker is simply not possible.

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News that will shock Jets fans – Rams release Wayne Hunter

Sorry for the delay in posting everyone, had some things to take care of this past week. Anyway, in a move that will undoubtedly send some Jets fans into cardiac arrest as it is so surprising, the Rams released Wayne Hunter. Of course, Hunter was the much-maligned right tackle who manned the spot on the Jets offensive line once Damien Woody’s departed the team. After struggling for much of the 2012 preseason, the Jets shipped Hunter to St. Louis in exchange for another tackle, Jason Smith. While Hunter’s release was expected by many fans, what most probably didn’t know was his salary cap figures the last couple years.

Former Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum signed Hunter to a four-year, $13 million dollar contract after the lockout in 2011. After a disappointing 2011 season,  the Jets had a chance to escape the rest of the contract by releasing Hunter soon after the season concluded. However, the team chose not to go this route and Hunter’s 2012 base salary of $2.45 million became guaranteed. A $50,000 workout bonus increased his 2012 cap hit to $2.5 million. As mentioned, the Rams picked up his contract when they traded for him last August. For this upcoming season, Hunter had a non-guaranteed base salary of $3.95 million with a $50,000 workout bonus, bringing his cap hit to an even $4 million. With no guaranteed money left to pay, the Rams save $4 million on their 2013 cap from this no-brainer release. Hunter would have had cap hit of $3 million ($2.95 million base salary + $50,000 workout bonus) in 2014, the final year of the deal if he were still on the team. Hunter would have been the 8th-highest cap hit on the Rams this season.

As several Jets fans would have told St. Louis last August: told ya so!

To check out the Rams salary cap situation, click here

@AndrewOTC

P.S., I’d also like to extend a welcome to Jim, the newest writer here at OTC. Looking forward to reading the new contributions!

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