Washington 2021 Roster and Salary Cap Update, Part 2
January 25, 2021
by Steve Thomas
Welcome to part 2 of my first look at Washington’s 2021 salary cap and roster status. Part one (click here to read) covered the offense, so this column will concern Washington’s defense and specialists groups. In the past week, I’ve also implemented the Rule of 51[1] (which technically doesn’t start until the new league year begins in March), so I will also give an overview of where the team stands as a whole. Let’s get started.
Defensive Summary
As a whole, Washington’s defense occupies $86.8M in cap space, which is 45.5% of the salary cap, with $82.4M counting under the Rule of 51. The three players who can’t be easily cut at a savings are Chase Young, Montez Sweat, and Landon Collins, although as I discuss below, the team can get out of Collins if they try hard enough.
Defensive Line
This is Washington’s most expensive position group, by far, and it also has the most long-term commitments of any group on the team. For 2021, Jonathan Allen takes up the most cap space. He’s entering his fifth season with the team and will play on his fifth year option at a cost of a little over $10M. Edge rusher Chase Young, whose rookie deal runs through 2023 and also contains a team option for 2024, is second with a cap hit of $7.855M this season. Matthew Ioannidis is next at $7.15M. He’s in year two of a three year contract extension. Daron Payne is entering the final year of his rookie deal, but the team has a fifth year option for next year that they can choose to take if they want to do so. He has a cap hit of just under $4.6M for 2021. Montez Sweat is signed through 2022 and has a cap hit of $3.17M this season. Like the other first round picks, Washington holds a fifth year option on Sweat for the 2023 season. The rest of defensive line are all on low salary deals, including primary rotational player Tim Settle, Caleb Brantley (who sat out last season in the high-risk COVID-19 category), Jalen Jelks, Devaroe Lawrence, 2020 seventh round pick James Smith-Williams, Casey Toohill, and Daniel Wise. In total, this position group has $39.45M in obligations for 2021 (more than 20% of the cap), with $36.45M counting under the Rule of 51.
The biggest question for the defensive line is to determine who stays and who goes. Right now, the top five (2020 starters Allen, Payne, Sweat, and Young, plus the injured reserve-bound Ioannidis) currently use $32.8M in cap space by themselves, with all but Ioannidis still on their rookie deal. The Redskins Washington probably can’t afford to have five players in one group on big-money second contracts, particularly with only 4 starting spots, to say nothing of Tim Settle, who has outplayed his draft status and also deserves a new deal. Look for the team to make a decision to either let one of Allen, Payne, or Ioannidis leave at some point soon, perhaps via trade, whether this season or next offseason.
Linebackers
The linebacker group stands in very stark contrast to the defensive line group. Of the 6 players in this group, only Cole Holcomb and Khaleke Hudson are signed beyond 2021 (2022 and 2023, respectively). Jonathan Bostic’s cap hit is $2.965M, but all of the other linebackers – Josh Harvey-Clemons (who missed 2020 as a voluntary COVID-19 opt-out), Jordan Kunaszyk, Justin Phillips, and the aforementioned Holcomb and Hudson, are on contracts with 2021 cap hits of less than $1M. The linebacker group has a combined cap hit of $4.4M for 2021, with the entire amount currently counting under the Rule of 51. It’s no secret to suggest that Ron Rivera and company need to devote major resources to the linebacker corps, as this group probably isn’t acceptable for either the short or long-term future.
Corners
Washington has 6 true corners under contract for 2021 with Kendall Fuller signed through 2023 and holding a massive $13.125M cap hit this coming season. 2019 draft pick Jimmy Moreland is signed through 2022 but uses just $874K in cap space. Greg Stroman was a 2018 seventh round draft pick who is entering the final year of his rookie deal. Stroman has a cap hit of $949K for 2021. Washington also has three practice squad-level players, DeMarkus Acy, Jordan Brown, and Torry McTyer, who are all on minimum salary one year contracts. With last year’s #2 starter, Ronald Darby, now a free agent, Washington has little choice but to make some sort of move to bring in a start, as it seems both unlikely and dumb for the team will rely on Moreland and Stroman to start at the #2 outside corner and in the slot. Together, the corner group occupies $17.3M of cap space, with $15.8M currently counting under the Rule of 51.
Safeties
The safety group has one of the highest paid players on the team, Landon Collins, who has a $17.2M cap hit in 2021 and is signed through 2024, with $18.8M in dead money this year if he’s released as pre-June 1 cut, which means that Washington will lose cap space by cutting him. Washington can spread out his cap burden by releasing him as a post-June 1 cut, which would place $9.2M in dead money on this year’s cap with the rest deferring to 2022. If Washington wants to move on from Collins, the best-case scenario from a salary cap perspective would be a trade. If he were to be traded before June 1, he would count as $13.8M in dead money, which would save $3.4M in cap space. A post-June 1 trade would be an even bigger savings, with just $4.2M in dead money in 2021 and more rolling into 2022. Kamren Curl, who took over Collins’ starting role in 2020 after Collins’ injury, is on his rookie contract through 2023 with a cap hit of just $808K. Longtime safety Deshazor Everett, who originally came to Washington in 2015, is signed through 2022 and comes with a $1.9M cap hit in 2021. Troy Apke, the 2018 fourth round pick, has a $1.095M cap hit this year. Jeremy Reaves has bounced between the practice squad and the active roster but appears to be well-liked by coaching staff. He’s just signed through 2021 and has a cap hit of $850K. Washington also has 2020 practice squad member Luke Cole on a minimum salary contract. In total, the safety group occupies $22.7M in cap space, which is 11.9% of the salary cap, with all $22.7M counting under the Rule of 51.
Specialists
Washington’s current specialists group is easy: punter Tress Way, signed through 2024 with a 2021 cap hit of $2.565M, and practice squad kicker / punt Kaare Vedvik on a minimum salary one year deal. Longtime kicker Dustin Hopkins and long snapper Nick Sundberg are both free agents, so Washington will either re-sign or replace both.
Team Summary
As a whole, Washington currently has 66 players signed for the 2021 season for a total of $164.7M, with $153.6M counting under the Rule of 51. They also have $4.8M in left over dead money from last season, so the team has $169.6M in total obligations and $158.5M under the Rule of 51. The team has significant flexibility, with only 4 players whose contracts the team can’t terminate at a savings, Chase Roullier, Young, Sweat, and Collins. Washington is in a good place right now even considering the uncertainty in the NFL salary cap both this year and next. They have $32.3M in cap space when the Rule of 51 is implemented, and $21.3M without it, which is the sixth-most space in the league, albeit way behind the league-leading Jacksonville Jaguars, who have more than $74M in free space, with the Colts and the Jets at $68M and $65M, respectively, followed by the Patriots at $54M and the Bengals at $34.9M.
[1] The Rule of 51 is an offseason rule wherein only the top 51 contracts, as measured by cap space used, count towards the salary cap. The purpose of this rule is to allow teams to sign up to the full 90 man roster for the offseason program and training camp without going over the salary cap.