The biggest NFL veterans who could be cut in the 2020 offseason

The NFL’s salary cap leads to plenty of roster churn every year. Franchises are tasked with balancing expensive proven veterans with cheaper talent. That means some pricy athletes could find themselves looking for new homes — even if they’re still in their primes.

Last year, we saw former Pro Bowlers like Gerald McCoy, Demaryius Thomas, and Justin Houston excised in advance of free agency. This offseason has already seen All-Pro tight end Greg Olsen left to ponder his football future.

These are the other veterans who could join him on the free agent market, ranked by order of how much they can save their respective teams by leaving this spring.

Already gone

Josh Norman, CB, Washington

Savings from cutting Norman: $12.4 million

Norman was just one of many things that went wrong for Washington in 2019. He suffered through his worst season in the league, where he gave up more than 11 yards per target and accounted for -1 points saved, per SIS. That’s the lowest score among any cornerback who started at least five games last fall.

This sudden downturn at age 32 could put Dan Snyder’s former prized signing on the chopping block. The 2015 All-Pro has failed to reach that standard since joining Washington in 2016. As a result, the club plans to release him and make him a free agent this offseason.

Wide receiver Paul Richardson, who lasted just two seasons into his five-year, $40 million contract with Washington, will be released as well. Ryan Kerrigan, 31 years old and headed into the final year of his contract with none of the $11.6 million owed to him guaranteed, could also be up for discussion.

Prince Amukamara, CB, Chicago Bears

Savings from cutting Amukamara: $9 million

Amukamara has been a steady, if unspectacular cornerback in his nine seasons as a pro. While he made 42 starts for the Bears the past three years, Chicago felt it could better spend the additional $9 million owed to him elsewhere. Like perhaps on a veteran quarterback to push Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job?

Marcell Dareus, DL, Jacksonville Jaguars

Savings from cutting Dareus: $20 million

Dareus, at his best, is worth $20 million+ annually. The problem is, he hasn’t been that player in several years. Even if he was, the 2020 Jaguars — currently with negative cap space — probably couldn’t afford him. As such, they declined his 2020 option and made him a free agent on the eve of the Scouting Combine.

Dareus broke through with a 10-sack season in 2014 that he’s been chasing ever since. In just six games, he averaged a career-low 2.2 tackles for an underwhelming Jaguars defense in 2019. More telling, those tackles came an average of 4.2 yards past the line of scrimmage, which is an untenable mark for a player who is supposed to be pushing blockers backward and creating chaos in the trenches.

While he can still be a useful presence in the middle of a defensive line, he’s due for a major pay cut this offseason.

Russell Okung, OT, Los Angeles Chargers

Savings from cutting Okung: $13 million

Okung’s release would have been a surprise. The veteran left tackle played well in 2019 when he was on the field — but that only lasted six games due to a pulmonary embolism and, later in the season, a groin injury.

While he was capable, he didn’t fit in with LA’s rebuild. Rather than release a Pro Bowl-caliber blocker, he’ll be traded to the Panthers in exchange for guard Trai Turner.

Turner is signed through 2021 compared to Okung’s 2020, and his $12.8 million cap hit for the upcoming season is less than Okung’s $15.5m. His cap number jumps to $15.4m next offseason, however — so we could see Turner wind his way to this list in 2021.

A.J. Bouye, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Savings from cutting Bouye: $11.4 million

Like Dareus, Bouye is a highly paid defender who has seen better days. And like his colleague, he’s looking at a change of venue this offseason thanks to the Jaguars’ cap crunch. He was traded to the Broncos for a fourth-round pick after news leaked about his imminent release in Jacksonville.

Bouye could be a boon for Denver, but he’ll have to put a disappointing season behind him. The former Texan allowed opposing QBs to post a 106.0 passer rating against him in 2019 while completing two-thirds of their passes with him in coverage.

With Jacksonville eager to find a way around Nick Foles’ cap-clogging $22 million average salary, Bouye’s departure may be the next step in a mini-rebuild of the Jacksonville defense.

Jimmy Graham, TE, Green Bay Packers

Savings from cutting Graham: $8 million

Graham wasn’t the red zone panacea the Packers hoped he would be when they signed him to a three-year, $30 million contract in 2018. After scoring 10 touchdowns in his final season with the Seahawks in 2017, Graham has just five scores over two years in Green Bay.

The Packers drafted Jace Sternberger in the third round in 2019 to take over as Graham’s replacement, but injuries limited him to only six games as rookie — and one target from Aaron Rodgers, which he dropped. Still, head coach Matt LaFleur must believe the second-year tight end is ready for a promotion, because Graham’s tenure in Wisconsin is over after two seasons.

Xavier Rhodes, CB, Minnesota Vikings

Savings from cutting Rhodes: $8.1 million

The Vikings have some very difficult decisions to make this offseason. After coming into the offseason with -$12.3 million in cap room — worst in the NFL by a significant margin — Minnesota had to cut some expensive veterans. First on the chopping block was Rhodes, who signed a five-year, $70.1 million contract extension in 2017 and struggled mightily in both 2018 and 2019. Per SIS, he gave up a 122.9 passer rating in coverage last fall.

Releasing Rhodes still left the Vikings over the cap, however. That led to DT Linval Joseph’s release as well. Together, they trimmed more than $20.5 from Minnesota’s 2020 salary cap.

Joe Flacco, QB, Denver Broncos

Savings from cutting Flacco: $10 million

The Joe Flacco who led the Ravens to a Super Bowl XLVII win is no more. This is the era of a Joe Flacco who is barely a replacement-level passer.

The former Super Bowl MVP has been mostly forgettable the past five seasons, recording an 83.0 passer rating and a 26-33 record as a starter. He also had his lead role usurped in both Baltimore (Lamar Jackson) and Denver (Drew Lock) after midseason injuries. Rather than keep him in town as an extremely expensive backup, general manager John Elway decided to run with free agent signee Jeff Driskel as his No. 2, sending Flacco to the open market for the first time in his career.

Dontari Poe, DT, Carolina Panthers

Savings from cutting Poe: $9.8 million

The Panthers are a Matt Rhule-Teddy Bridgewater team now. The focus on the rest of Carolina’s offseason has been clearing out its ballast tanks and absorbing new talent into the cap room it’s created.

A 30-year-old Poe didn’t have much of a role in a Panther renaissance. The space-clogging tackle would have been the third-highest paid player on the roster after a good, but not great season. General manager Marty Hurney declined his contract option for 2020, allowing him to sign with the Cowboys instead.

Andy Dalton, QB, Bengals

Savings from cutting Dalton: $17.7 million

Dalton gave the Bengals nine seasons of mostly good, never great quarterbacking. Now he has no place on a team that drafted Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick. Dalton’s career in tiger stripes is over.

Even though Cincinnati will need a veteran quarterback to help ease Burrow’s transition from LSU to the NFL, it’s time for both sides to move on. The money saved by releasing the Pro Bowl quarterback can be spent acquiring weapons and bolstering the offensive line tasked with keeping Burrow’s jersey clean in 2020 — especially now that remaining free agents can be signed without affecting next year’s compensatory pick balance. The Bengals had already released one expensive standby before Dalton offensive tackle Cordy Glenn was jettisoned before the official start of the league year, clearing $9.5 million in cap space in the process.

Sticking around

Sammy Watkins, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Savings from cutting Watkins: $14 million

Watkins has shown flashes of star-making play throughout his six-year career, but has ultimately failed to live up to the potential that made him the fourth overall pick in 2014. This past season was no different. He began it with a three-touchdown, 198-yard performance in the Chiefs’ season opener, had just one 100-yard game in the next 13 games, and finished the year with 14 catches for 288 yards in the postseason.

That makes it hard to justify Watkins’ $21 million cap hit for 2020 — especially now that reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes is eligible for what’s sure to be a massive contract extension. With Chris Jones careening toward free agency, the team’s decision may come down to either its second-best wide receiver or the defensive lineman who helped save a Super Bowl win.

Then again, in the biggest game of his life, he put Richard Sherman on roller skates.

That’s why the two sides came to terms on a restructured one year, $9 million contract that could pay him up to $16 million should he meet certain incentives. That move will shave at least $5 million from the team’s cap this fall.

Janoris Jenkins, CB, New Orleans Saints

Savings from cutting Jenkins: $11.3 million

The Saints claimed Jenkins after he was released by the Giants for a combination of on-field malaise and off-field concerns. He performed well in New Orleans despite the team’s sudden playoff exit, but his one-year, $11+ million cap number was too steep for the team’s liking. Not wanting to lose him in 2020, the team worked out a two-year extension that lowers that cap hit for the upcoming year but also allows head coach Sean Payton to walk away from him in 2021 with minimal dead salary cap repercussions.

No official decision yet

Derek Carr, QB, Las Vegas Raiders

Savings from cutting Carr: $13.6 million

Carr’s future with the Raiders is very much up in the air. Reports suggest the franchise is interested in making free agent Tom Brady the face of its Las Vegas debut.

Brady may be a long shot, but this year’s free agent crop includes plenty of veteran alternatives should the Raiders want to swap out QBs. Las Vegas could also package its two first-round picks this April and move up to select a rookie quarterback at the draft.

The team has a lot of spending room this offseason, so moving Carr isn’t a priority, even if it lures a young QB to Nevada. He remains an efficient, if low-impact passer who could bring back a decent return via trade. There isn’t really a glaring reason for the Raiders to cut him loose, but this is Jon Gruden we’re talking about. You can’t rule out any splash-making move in advance of his team’s first season in Vegas.

Malcolm Butler, CB, Tennessee Titans

Savings from cutting Butler: $7.4 million

While he’s been steady in two seasons with the Titans, Butler is far removed from the form that made him an All-Pro with the Patriots in 2016. He’s been a good, if inconsistent, corner when healthy — and Tennessee is paying him like a great one.

The Titans have two major priorities at hand with both Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry barreling toward the open market. Carving out extra space for them could mean cutting Butler, who didn’t play a snap for the club in 2019 after Week 9 and thus missed the team’s Cinderella run through the first two weeks of the postseason. Dion Lewis, another former Patriot lured south with a big contract, has already been informed he’s no longer part of the team’s plans:

Three other notable veterans — Wake, tight end Delanie Walker and kicker Ryan Succop — were each served their walking papers this offseason as well. Butler’s been better than Lewis was as a Titan, but if he can’t convince leadership he’s due for a bounce-back year, he could be next on the chopping block.

Nate Solder, OT, New York Giants

Savings from cutting Solder: $6.5 million

Solder was the first big-ticket signing of general manager Dave Gettleman’s tenure. He hasn’t panned out the way the Giants hoped, though. His 37 blown pass protection blocks were the most in the NFL in 2019.

He’ll turn 32 years old before the upcoming season, so last year’s struggles could either be an outlier in an otherwise solid career or the beginning of an age-related decline. He was the most important piece of an offensive line that allowed Daniel Jones to get sacked 38 times in 12 starts last season, a number that threatens to stunt the young QB’s growth if it isn’t remedied.

If Solder isn’t cut in 2020, this could be the former blindside protector’s last chance to prove he’s still an upper-tier blocker.