Carson Palmer is due $13 million in 2013, which is a downright bargain in comparison to the $15 million he is set to make in 2014. In every other way, it is a terrible value.
The large cap numbers and the Raiders' lack of other proven options at quarterback have fueled speculation that the Raiders would attempt to restructure Palmer's deal.
Palmer is not a fan of that option. At least not according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
When the Raiders paid a king's ransom to acquire Palmer from the Cincinnati Bengals in 2011, his contract was restructured.
To reduce his cap number for last season, the Raiders converted a large portion of his 2012 salary into a signing bonus, which could then be prorated over the life of the contract for cap purposes.
So, if the Raiders were to cut him now, the remainder of that bonus, which is spread out over the next four seasons, would all count against the cap now.
As Spotrac shows us, all of this means that if the Raiders were to cut Palmer now, it would create over $9 million in "dead money." In other words, if Palmer was cut, the Raiders would save just under $6 million in cap space for this season.
While that in and of itself is not such an enormous savings that the Raiders should automatically cut Palmer, this move has to be done with an eye on the future.
Cutting Palmer now would free up the Raiders from any cap hits due to Palmer's bloated contract in future seasons, and that is why this move needs to be made.
The Raiders are in rebuilding mode. While Palmer was decent last year while working with limited talent around ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
