Seattle Seahawks News: Red Bryant Latest Salary Cap Casualty
By Todd Pheifer
Dec 15, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) is pushed to the turf by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Red Bryant (79) during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
The Seattle Seahawks are making cuts. It isn’t personal. It is just business. Of course that is one of the more deceiving statements ever uttered, even if it is repeated constantly.
It is personal to somebody.
This time that somebody is defensive end Red Bryant, who fits into two distinct categories. Bryant is old (for the NFL) and expensive.
The solution? Thank him for his service and suggest that he clean out his locker.
A brutal way to treat your employees? I suppose, but this is the way of the National Football League. This is the league of conditional love.
Players may lament this reality, but you get the impression that they understand it and probably expect these types of cuts to occur. Sidney Rice thanked the team via Twitter rather than ripping the organization for being cheap.
Never look at the number of years or the total dollars of a free agent contract. Look at the guaranteed money.
Why are the Seahawks doing this? Simple. The NFL has a salary cap, which is something that baseball should adopt. Not everyone can get paid top dollar. Teams have to make tough choices.
More importantly, the Seahawks want to retain Michael Bennett more than Red Bryant. Bennett is not going to be cheap. Granted, Bennett may himself be on the wrong end of a free agent contract in just a couple of years. But, I think he knows that.
It is tough to see players go, but this is how the league is structured from a financial standpoint. If this were baseball, these cuts might not be made. We might not be looking ahead to other possible cuts such as Zach Miller or Chris Clemons.
This isn’t personal…but Red Bryant now has to find a job.