Warrick, Webster may avoid late cuts
By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer
NFL teams once cut a significant number of players after June 1.
Waiting until June 1 allowed teams to absorb remaining signing bonus values - though the money had been paid years earlier - on their salary caps in the current calendar year and the next.
The Bengals released quarterback Akili Smith on June 2, 2003, in order to absorb what remained of his $10.8 million signing bonus in 2004, as well.
These days, though, teams are more likely to release a player even before June 1 and take the salary-cap hit in full now instead of later. That group doesn't include the Washington Redskins, who were expected to cut three pricey, underachieving veterans to save some $4 million to help sign rookie draft picks.
The Bengals already have done some cutting, primarily letting go of veteran linebacker Kevin Hardy on April 3. That move saved the team the $2.6 million base salary he was due this coming season but left it to absorb $1.75 million of the $3.5 million signing bonus he received in April 2003.
The lack of activity in the Bengals' front office Wednesday means wide receiver Peter Warrick is expected to get the chance to play if he recovers from knee and shin injuries suffered in 2004, and linebacker Nate Webster probably will get the opportunity to show if he can come back from two operations to repair patellar tendon damage.
"It's all a matter of being healthy," Warrick said Wednesday.
Webster was typically optimistic, even after the Bengals invested their first two draft picks this year on linebackers David Pollack and Odell Thurman.
"It's a help for us," Webster said. "Everybody (at linebacker) had surgery last year except ... nobody."
The salary cap for players for the season per team is $85.5 million. The Bengals are believed to be $4.8 million under.
By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer
NFL teams once cut a significant number of players after June 1.
Waiting until June 1 allowed teams to absorb remaining signing bonus values - though the money had been paid years earlier - on their salary caps in the current calendar year and the next.
The Bengals released quarterback Akili Smith on June 2, 2003, in order to absorb what remained of his $10.8 million signing bonus in 2004, as well.
These days, though, teams are more likely to release a player even before June 1 and take the salary-cap hit in full now instead of later. That group doesn't include the Washington Redskins, who were expected to cut three pricey, underachieving veterans to save some $4 million to help sign rookie draft picks.
The Bengals already have done some cutting, primarily letting go of veteran linebacker Kevin Hardy on April 3. That move saved the team the $2.6 million base salary he was due this coming season but left it to absorb $1.75 million of the $3.5 million signing bonus he received in April 2003.
The lack of activity in the Bengals' front office Wednesday means wide receiver Peter Warrick is expected to get the chance to play if he recovers from knee and shin injuries suffered in 2004, and linebacker Nate Webster probably will get the opportunity to show if he can come back from two operations to repair patellar tendon damage.
"It's all a matter of being healthy," Warrick said Wednesday.
Webster was typically optimistic, even after the Bengals invested their first two draft picks this year on linebackers David Pollack and Odell Thurman.
"It's a help for us," Webster said. "Everybody (at linebacker) had surgery last year except ... nobody."
The salary cap for players for the season per team is $85.5 million. The Bengals are believed to be $4.8 million under.
