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Sportrac, a website dedicated towards following pro sports contracts, recently ranked the Atlanta Falcons as top five*! (In cap space dedicated towards players in injured reserve.)
At least we aren't the St. Louis Rams.
Most 2014 Cap $ on IR: 1. #Rams: $42.9M 2. #Redskins: $23.6M 3. #Giants: $21.7M 4. #Jaguars: $20.5M 5. #Falcons: $20M http://t.co/wyGVQEbrzk
— Spotrac (@spotrac) October 28, 2014
Again, yes, the biggest offender is Sam Baker's contract. While it was not Baker's fault he was offered a ridiculous contract after continually struggling to stay healthy and/or play effectively, he takes up the biggest chunk.
But do not worry too much. There should be an asterisk after the Atlanta Falcons. According to Sportrac, eight players make up that $20 million in space.
There are four players under $1 million each: Marquis Spruill, Mike Johnson, Lamar Holmes and Peter Konz.
The big numbers come with some of the veterans.
Baker takes up over $6 million in cap space, the 4th highest on the team.
Followed by Sean Weatherspoon, who in the final year of his rookie contract takes up over $4 million this year.
Joe Hawley would come in higher, but he smashed the cap space's face and is only taking up about $2 million in cap space.
Does this not add up? No, it does not. Sportrac included William Moore's over $5 million, who is designated to return as early as week 13. If you removed Willy's cap hit, the Falcons would still be about 9th in cap space dedicated towards injured players.
Seems that paying oft-injured players will come back to bite General Manager's more often than not.
Any thoughts on our cap situation?