While we still don\’t know the exact value of three-year contract signed by Pittsburgh Steelers unrestricted guard Ramon Foster, it doesn\’t really matter as far as the future of guard Willie Colon with the team goes unless he takes a cut in pay.
Colon, as I pointed out a few days ago, has been in limbo, and now that limbo has an arrow pointing to the unemployment line if he does not agree to take a cut in his $5.5 million base salary.
So what are the options as far as Colon goes outside of him taking a pay cut? The Steelers could release him now and eat $6.45 million in dead money which would still create a cap savings in 2013 of $1.2 million. It of course would be less after displacement in the Rule of 51, so keep that in mind.
The next option would be to cut Colon now as a courtesy to him but give him a post June 1st designation. Doing that would produce a cap savings in 2013 of $5.5 million, but not until June 2nd. A post June 1st cut also produces a dead money charge in 2014 of $4.3 million.
The last option would be to hold onto Colon until June 2nd just as a security blanket. That\’s pretty ruthless though, in my opinion.
If Colon were to take a pay cut of around $2.5 million in 2013, that cap savings would easily cover the first year cap hit of the new Foster contract.
Those are the options as far as Colon goes. In my opinion, if he doesn\’t take the cut in pay the Steelers should just eat everything right now and move on. Putting a $4 million plus dead money charge in 2014 is not worth saving the extra cap money later this summer.
