Any NFL cap gurus out there who can spell out how the team can work around all the remaining guaranteed money on Alex Smith's deal? Seems like Smith's injury is going to prevent them from being competitive for several more seasons.
No cap guru but its pretty clear the Skins are screwed and they did it to themselves. Smith has a dead cap number of 42 mil next year, I think I said 49 mil before but I was wrong. They can trade him, cut him, he can retire or he stays on the team. No one would trade for him so forget that. If they cut him that dead money can be spread over 2 years but that comes out to 21 mil a year. I believe if he retires it would be the same as if he is cut, I'll have to look into that, so thats out of the question. His cap hit next year if he is on the team, PUP list most likely, is 20.4 mil. Smith's 2020 dead cap hit is only 16 mil, that would work out to 8 mil a year for two years if he is cut or retires.
The best case scenario is to keep him on the team. Like what Philly did with Chris Pronger. As for how long Smith's situation will handcuff the Skins, it looks like 2019 will be the only year cap wise Smith's situation will have a negative effect. After 2019 the guaranteed money in Smith's extension comes off the books and his dead money value drops way down to 16 mil or 8 mil spread over two years. Way more manageable.
One ray of hope is that after this season it will be economical to cut Josh Norman. He will have a 14 mil cap hit next year but only a 6 mil dead cap figure. So if they cut him after this season that should free up 11 mil in cap space with the 6 mil dead cap figure reduced to 3 mil for 2019 and 2020.