Player.......	Pos......	Cap Figure........	Dead Money........	Savings if cut or traded
Drew Brees	QB	$26,400,000	($14,800,000)	$11,600,000
Junior Galette	OLB	$15,450,000	($16,200,000)	($750,000)
Jimmy Graham	TE	$11,000,000	($11,900,000)	($900,000)
Jahri Evans	G	$11,000,000	($5,000,000)	$6,000,000
Jairus Byrd	S	$10,300,000	($8,800,000)	$1,500,000
Marques Colston	WR	$9,700,000	($5,400,000)	$4,300,000
Ben Grubbs	G	$9,600,000	($6,000,000)	$3,600,000
Curtis Lofton	ILB	$9,000,000	($5,000,000)	$4,000,000
Cameron Jordan	DE	$6,969,000		$6,969,000
Brodrick Bunkley	DT	$6,112,500	($3,225,000)	$2,887,500
David Hawthorne	OLB	$6,010,000	($3,020,000)	$2,990,000
Keenan Lewis	CB	$4,850,000	($6,900,000)	($2,050,000)
Thomas Morstead	P	$3,400,000	($2,150,000)	$1,250,000
Zach Strief	RT	$3,200,000	($6,400,000)	($3,200,000)
Kenny Vaccaro	S	$2,570,376	($5,569,148)	($2,998,772)
Pierre Thomas	RB	$2,565,000	($830,000)	$1,735,000
Rafael Bush	S	$1,950,000		$1,950,000
Brandin Cooks	WR	$1,905,330	($6,077,589)	($4,172,259)
Benjamin Watson	TE	$1,900,000	($400,000)	$1,500,000
Erik Lorig	FB	$1,050,000	($750,000)	$300,000
Justin Drescher	LS	$875,000	($220,000)	$655,000
Stanley Jean-Baptiste	CB	$826,530	($1,149,822)	($323,292)
Akiem Hicks	DE	$808,225	($135,725)	$672,500
Terron Armstead	LT	$769,359	($308,718)	$460,641
Nick Toon	WR	$761,903	($101,903)	$660,000
John Jenkins	DT	$746,890	($283,780)	$463,110
Corey White	CB	$704,125	($44,125)	$660,000
Kenny Stills	WR	$633,613	($97,226)	$536,387
Glenn Foster	DE	$587,334	($2,334)	$585,000
Josh Hill	TE	$586,668	($1,668)	$585,000
Tim Lelito	C	$586,668	($1,668)	$585,000
Khiry Robinson	RB	$585,334	($334)	$585,000
Vinnie Sunseri	S	$554,125	($132,375)	$421,750
Ronald Powell	OLB	$552,215	($126,645)	$425,570
Marcus Ball	S	$512,000	($4,000)	$508,000
Ty Zimmerman	S	$511,500		$511,500
Brian Dixon	CB	$510,000		$510,000
Kasim Edebali	DE	$510,000		$510,000
Austin Johnson	FB	$510,000		$510,000
Seantavius Jones	WR	$510,000		$510,000
Kyle Knox	OLB	$510,000		$510,000
Jalen Saunders	WR	$510,000		$510,000
Andy Tanner	WR	$510,000		$510,000
Lawrence Virgil	DE	$510,000		$510,000

Nice work danno

In some instances I think we need to take a hit with the dead money to release or trade guys like David Hawthorne or Jahri Evans, however we are already quite far up the creak due to the back loaded contracts

I wouldn't be completely shocked if Colston was let go, although 5 Mil in dead money is a lot for someone that SP probably still values quite a bit

I think people misunderstand the whole dead money thing. The actual cap savings is much more important. A lot of dead money is inefficient, but it doesn't impact the overall cap number if you are replacing the dead money player with someone of comparable skill and a cheaper salary.

A simple example: For instance, if we cut Colston, we would take 9.7 million overall off the cap. We still have to pay Colston 5.4 million in dead money. But we have 4.3 million left to sign a wide receiver.

And that's the big question when it comes to these moves. Could we find a $4.3 million dollar player in free agency to replace him? It seems likely we could, considering how badly he has played as of late.

The Colts ate a ton of dead money contracts in 2012 and rebuilt that team from the ground up and have now made the playoffs three straight years. It's do-able.

I think people misunderstand the whole dead money thing. The actual cap savings is much more important. A lot of dead money is inefficient, but it doesn't impact the overall cap number if you are replacing the dead money player with someone of comparable skill and a cheaper salary.

A simple example: For instance, if we cut Colston, we would take 9.7 million overall off the cap. We still have to pay Colston 5.4 million in dead money. But we have 4.3 million left to sign a wide receiver.

And that's the big question when it comes to these moves. Could we find a $4.3 million dollar player in free agency to replace him? It seems likely we could, considering how badly he has played as of late.

The Colts ate a ton of dead money contracts in 2012 and rebuilt that team from the ground up and have now made the playoffs three straight years. It's do-able.

Exactly.

Consider Curtis Lofton. He's way overpaid at 9 Million, but if we cut him could we find a better ILB for 4 million?

Lelito is servicable but far from a stud.

Obviously anyone who advocates cutting Lofton is nuts. You're not going to find a LB of his caliber in the draft.

But Hawthorne, Bunkley, Evans and Colston are all easily replaceable by mid-level free agent signings and a good draft pick or two. Loomis may not be a football expert, but he's no fool. He can see the guys who are not pulling their weight just like we can.



Lelito has played like a stud though, just about every time he steps on the field - except for the first half of the Cardinals game last year when he got thrown in the fire. Since then, he's been money.

IMO the big cuts are Hawthorne, Bunkley and Evans. That, combined with a Brees restructure, gets you in the black easily, and let's be honest those players won't be missed that much.

I hate to say that about Evans, I really do. But he is about 1/3rd the player he was when he was good.

Loomis will manage the cap masterfully as he always does.

Evans had the benefit of another pro bowl guard right next to him. I believe due to the way Brees plays it is more important for us to have strong guards than tackles. If we got a strong guard to play next to Evans I think we can still get enough solid play out of him to protect Brees for the rest of Brees career. When Brees is done we switch our focus more to left tackle.