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

1. QB Alex Smith

Cutting Alex Smith wouldn’t be an easy decision for the Washington Football Team to make. After all, he led the team to a 5-1 record last year, served as a great veteran presence and team leader, and proved to be one of the most inspirational comeback stories in the history of sports.

However, the fact of the matter is that Smith can’t be relied upon to stay healthy. Late in the season, his surgically-repaired leg just didn’t hold up. He suffered a calf strain against the San Francisco 49ers, and while he returned in Week 17 against the Eagles, he was a shell of himself. He couldn’t play in the team’s playoff game either.

Now, maybe that calf injury was a freak thing and Smith can stay on the field full-time as he further distances himself from the 17 surgeries he had on his right leg. But it’s hard to count on that. Even if that does happen, Smith is set to have a $23.3 million cap hit this year, and his level of play no longer matches up with that.

Washington could opt to cut Smith to open up $14.7 million, per Over The Cap, with the team eating only $8.6 million in dead cap. Depending on what Washington opts to spend this offseason, that space could be crucial for them to continue to build depth.

Perhaps there’s another way to open up cap space and keep Smith for his leadership skills. Or maybe the team could restructure Smith’s deal, if possible. But if Washington is forced to make a decision about keeping Smith or pursuing some higher-dollar free agents or a new franchise-type quarterback, they could be forced to make this kind of difficult decision.

Right now, it seems like Ron Rivera wants to keep Smith around, but nothing can ever be certain in the NFL. Releasing Smith would open up a lot of space for Washington, so his contract is one to watch in the coming month or so, no matter what.