On Monday evening reports came out that stated Oakland Raiders starting quarterback Carson Palmer is “highly unlikely to restructure his current contract,” which puts his time with the organization close to an end.
His unwillingness to negotiate signifies that the Raiders options are to keep him and his $13 million contract or release him. At 33-years of age he’s not worth such a large contract and it also opens up some cap space for the team. Palmer’s salary cap number would drop from $15.335 million to $9.34 million if released.
The cap savings is $5.995 million and while Carson still counts for $9-plus million for the 2013 cap, there is no dead money outstanding for future seasons. Assuming that he is no longer with the franchise.
Losing him makes a strong case for Oakland to take a quarterback in the draft and all signs are pointing to West Virginia’ Geno Smith.
Palmer will draw immediate interest from Bruce Arians and the Arizona Cardinals.
A tweet by Adam Schefter says “cutting him will be a no-brainer move for a Raiders team that won’t compete in 2013. Even though he understands the business side of the NFL stating that makes little sense.”
What it means is that the organization is looking to rebuild its future and yes with a young quarterback taking over at the helm, struggles are going to happen. It still doesn’t mean that this team won’t compete.
Free agency is still going on though it has slowed down, the draft is important and it’s ridiculous to count any of the 32 teams out before a season begins. All it takes is one or two injuries of a favorite in a division to drop off.
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