Raiders cut only 3 due to reprieve

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 3, 2006 | by Jerry McDonald, STAFF WRITER

Given a 72-hour reprieve before getting their financial house in order before the start of free agency, the Oakland Raiders began trimming their salary-cap surplus without having to make a decision on the fate of quarterback Kerry Collins.

The Raiders cleared

$8,759,000 worth of cap room Thursday by terminating the contracts of defensive tackle Ted Washington, guard Ron

Stone and cornerback Denard Walker, meaning they will need just under $15 million worth of additional cuts if owners and the NFL Players Association cannot come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Cuts could be less severe if the two sides agree at the bargaining table. Without an agreement, teams would have to comply with a $94.5 million salary cap by Sunday at 9 p.m. (PST), with free agency beginning at 9:01 p.m.

Although Washington and Stone each started 16 games, none of Thursday's moves comes as a surprise.

Washington, 37, had a cap number of $4,747,000. With the subtraction of his prorated signing bonus and acceleration, his release cleared $1,759,000 worth of room under the cap.

He is currently serving as an assistant coach in NFL Europe, preparing for what might be his next career.

Stone, 34, was cut in a similar maneuver last season at the cap deadline but was eventually signed to a new contract. He had a 2006 cap number of

$3,080,000, and his release saved $2.8 million.

Walker, who was active for only nine games, had a $4.5 million cap number and cleared $4.2 million more.

Collins, enormously unpopular with the Oakland fans, has a $12,897,668 salary cap figure,highest on the team. He earns a $2.5 million bonus if he is on the roster five days after the start of the league year, which coincides with the start of free agency at 9:01 p.m. Sunday.

Both Raiders owner Al Davis and coach Art Shell were complimentary in their evaluation of Collins in postseason press conferences. Collins said following Oakland's season-ending loss to the New York Giants he was willing to restructure his contract and wanted to return.

Collins has been unavailable for comment since the hiring of Shell and an offensive staff that includes offensive coordinator Tom Walsh, who hasn't coached in the NFL since 1994, and quarterbacks coach Jim McElwain, who is coaching in the NFL for the first time.

The Baltimore Ravens are reportedly watching closely. Should Collins become a free agent, the Ravens, according to the Baltimore Sun, are interested in bringing him in to compete with Kyle Boller for the starting job.

Baltimore's offensive coordinator, Jim Fassel, was Collins' coach when he took the New York Giants to the Super Bowl in the 2000 season.

If Collins wanted to be reunited with Fassel, refusing to renegotiate his contract would be his ticket out of Oakland and also save the Raiders $9,197,000 in cap space.

A Raiders team official said that an NFL Network report last week that said the club and Collins had agreed to part was ''speculation and inaccurate."

Other players who have high cap figures who could be in a precarious situation include defensive end Bobby Hamilton ($5.32 million) and wide receiver Ronald Curry ($5,040,000). Like Stone last season, both could be waived and brought back under terms more favorable to the Raiders.

Two popular veterans with midrange cap figures could net savings of approximately $1.35 million each -- middle linebacker Danny Clark and fullback Zack Crockett.

A handful of Raiders with high cap numbers could possibly restructure contracts but are unlikely candidates for release, based on existing signing bonus money on the books and acceleration that would negate the savings under the cap.

Left tackle Barry Sims has a $7.2 million cap figure, but cutting him would leave more than $5.9 million on the books in ''dead money," saving just $1.3million against the cap. Defensive tackle Warren Sapp has a cap number of just under $6.1 million, but his release would save only $109,000.

Although there has been speculation regarding the possible release of kicker Sebastian Janikowski, it would actually cost the Raiders less under the cap to keep him than it would to cut him.

Janikowski has a cap figure of just over $1.7 million, but his acceleration and signing bonus figures based on previous renegotiations total more than $2.2 million, meaning Oakland would lose more than $500,000 in cap space in the event of his release.

A new collective bargaining agreement could add more than $10 million to the 2006 salary cap and keep in place a team's ability to spread out signing bonus money for more than four years, a common tactic in order to lower cap figures.

EXTRA POINTS: Raiderette audition prep classes have been scheduled on March 18, March 25 and April 1 at McKinley Elementary School in San Leandro. Auditions for the Raiderettes will be Sunday, April 2, at the Oakland Airport Hilton. More information, including times and registration fees, is available on

Raiders.com.