Posted by Darren Urban on May 30, 2014 – 4:14 pm

There is a lot to digest with today’s Daryl Washington news and, as I have seen via Twitter and the comments on the blog, many questions. The biggest is what this all means for Washington’s future with the team. Not surprisingly, there are many who have said Washington should just be released.

That seems a little knee-jerk, at least sitting here today. A suspension means the Cards aren’t going to have to pay Washington in 2014. If nothing else, that buys time to survey the situation and see exactly what all the options are. Besides, as bad of a spot as Washington has put the team with his absence, releasing him — at least now — puts the Cardinals in an uglier situation in terms of money and the salary cap.

If the Cardinals cut Washington now, that creates a dead money hit of $7.5 million on the current cap. Absorbing that, even after the money the team will clear on the cap next week as Daryn Colledge’s June 1 designation on his release kicks in, will create a serious cap crunch. (According to the NFLPA site, the Cards have around $4.5 million in cap space currently, and should clear around $5 million or so with the Colledge situation).

More importantly, the collective bargaining agreement includes the ability for teams to get back portions of bonus money paid when a player violates league policies, and the Cardinals are planning on exercising that right. If the Cards cut him now, they no longer can try and get back any money. That’s a crucial piece of information given the huge option bonus the team recently decided to give Washington ($5 million this year and another $5 million is due early next year, when Washington would still be under suspension.)

Any suspended player, per the rules in the Substance Abuse policy, has a contract that is “tolled” during a year-long suspension. In simple terms, Washington’s contract freezes at this point. He doesn’t get money, he doesn’t advance another year toward the end of the contract. It picks up when and if Washington is reinstated (meaning, for instance, his 2014 terms would move to 2015, etc.) Given that reality — and those listed above — there no reason to rush any decision. Again, Washington very well could be released down the road. But it makes little sense for it to be now.

Tags: Daryl Washington Posted in Blog