Originally Posted by
lklrlolnlilklsox
This is a passing league and guarding your edges is at a premium. Releasing Winston now and replacing him with a rookie gives them MONTHS with freed up space to make moves around in FA and the like, including re-signing Albert long term. Joeckel doesn't have to be signed until damn near August, and that time makes all the difference in roster and cap flexibility to improve their team. They tagged Albert because he is a valuable commodity at a premium position, you rarely see those guys walk. Now, with the saved money from cutting Winston, they have a heck of a lot more room moving forward to sign him. Winston was scheduled to make $6.5M each of the next three season and will be 30 this season. Joeckel, as the first overall pick playing OT will make something in the ballpark of Kalil's contract which is ~$5M per average and <$4M as a 22 year old stud rookie.