A time to reflect on their roster Josh Oliver Jersey , and see which players are fulfilling the value of their current contract. Players who are underachieving, or simply too expensive to retain become candidates to be released by a team. In the ever challenging pursuit to stay under the salary cap, NFL teams are faced with challenging decisions each off-season on which players to let go.The NFL salary cap is one of the harder aspects of an NFL franchise to understand. Most teams now have a “capologist” on their payroll in order to manage the complex components to keeping a team below the cap. The basic concept of the salary cap is to try to level the playing field by setting equal spending for each team. This ensures that smaller market, and larger market teams are on a level playing field when it comes to assembling a team. The NFL cap was conceived in 1994 and was set at $34.6 million. In 2015 the cap number is projected to be $140 million. The cap number is determined from the total revenue of the league, and with the cap jumping by $100 million over the last 20 years we get a clear picture of how financially stable the league is.Most individual contracts of players are divided up over multiple years. You will hear a player has signed a 4-year $16 million deal, but it is not as simple as saying that player will cost $4 million versus the cap annually. In most cases NFL teams will try to back load the contract, which in essence means the teams will pay more of the salary in the later portions of the contract. This has a twofold effect as it helps the team get under the yearly cap number http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-quincy-williams-ii-jersey , and it allows the team to move on from the player in later years when their salary gets too high. Players are not too keen on signing back loaded contracts, and this is where the signing bonus comes into play. The signing bonus is a sum of money that is guaranteed to the player even if he is cut. This is often referred to as “dead money”, meaning the team is on the hook for that portion of the salary even if the player is released from the contract. The following top 20 will take into account the cap hit, dead money, and overall player performance in highlighting players who are candidates to get cut this offseason. Their 2015 cap hit will be included here to highlight the probability of their release. Retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhard Jr. says he is interested in becoming a minority owner with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

Earnhardt told The Associated Press he was not asked by local businessmen Felix Sabates to join a potential ownership group, but said he did contact Marcus Smith, the CEO of Speedway Motorsports Ryquell Armstead Jersey , to say he’d be interested.

Current Panthers owner Jerry Richardson announced in December he’s selling the team.

Earnhardt, who lives in Kannapolis, North Carolina, says he told the CEO of Speedway Motorsports, ”`Hey, Marcus, if you guys get in the middle of it and you think it’s a good business deal http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-gardner-minshew-ii-jersey , I definitely have some interest,”’ Earnhardts says he ”wouldn’t have the kind of money where I would move the needle too much, but it would be something to have a lot of pride in.”

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AP Motorsports Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.

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