Alfred Morris Does not Count Against the Salary cap
The new rules of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) have put an interesting twist on salary cap numbers so far since it’s inception a couple of years back. Under the new agreement only the top 51 salary’s count against each teams salary cap. Now with over 70 players currently on the roster (only 53 make the team), that leaves room for certain players to not count against the cap each year.
Due to the same agreement, lower draft picks make near the league minimum or slightly over it. Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris, who rushed for 1,610 yards last season plus 80 more in the playoffs, is merely the 54th-highest paid Redskin.
Morris, who makes less (the minimum $480,000 plus a $30,775 bonus) than linebackers Roderick Muckelroy and Vic So’oto (555,000 each), technically doesn’t count against the salary cap right now at all.
Under the current agreement rookie players generally sign four year deals when drafted and can’t renegotiate until after two. Luckily for the Redskins, Alfred Morris cares more about being successful than having a large contract at this point. The low cap hit for Morris has aided the Redskins this year as they have had to get creative to stay under the salary cap after being penalized 18 million dollars earlier this off-season as the second part of the NFL’s salary cap penalty’s from the uncapped year.
The highest cap figures on the team for next season are Pierre Garcon at $8.2 million, Trent Williams at $7.99 million, Barry Cofield at $6.3 million, London Fletcher at $6.2 million and Stephen Bowen at $5.5 million.
