Five players Washington Football Team could cut to open up cap space

2 of 6

Washington Football Team safety Troy Apke. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

5. S Troy Apke

We’ll get this list started with a player that has largely been a disappointment for the Washington Football Team.

Troy Apke was considered to be a reach when Washington selected him in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. So far, he hasn’t done anything to shake that label.

Apke is a great special teams player. He has elite speed and has made an impact as a gunner. But on defense, he hasn’t been good. At all.

More from Riggo's Rag

Last year, Apke won the starting free safety job and there was some buzz about his performance in camp. It seemed that with better coaching, Apke was making the leap. Instead, he largely struggled with angling on the back end, a problem that had plagued him in his first two seasons, and he was eventually replaced as a starter.

Moving forward, Washington is expected to add help at the free safety spot. That could spell the end of Apke’s run if the team doesn’t envision keeping him beyond this season. The team already has Deshazor Everett and Jeremy Reaves at the free safety spot. Both were better than Apke when called upon to start and they have special teams ability.

No, neither is as fast as Apke. But speed isn’t everything.

Cutting Apke would only open about $920K in cap space, but if Washington doesn’t plan on keeping him or doesn’t think he’ll develop further, they may opt to move on from him. It’s more likely that the team would keep him because of his special teams ability, at least for a season, but moving on from Apke would be doable.

And for those wondering about a different Washington safety — Landon Collins, to be precise — cutting him doesn’t really look like an option. Cutting him at this point would cost more in dead cap space than keeping him would. As such, Collins will likely stick around for at least one more year as he returns from a torn Achilles.

Home/Commanders News