Allow me to re-state my position since I disagree with many of the posts.
1) I do not want to cut Faulk under any circumstances. In fact, I would like to sign him to a 3 year extension before camp. This would save a bit of cap money.
2) I do not think that Jason Taylor will sign for what Fred Taylor signed for: $5M over two years, including a $1.45M bonus and a 2009 cap hit of $2.3M. If we expect to get him for even $7M over two years, the 2009 cap hit will be at least $3M because of the 30% rule.
3) 2009 salaries (e.g. Brady or Light) can NOT be moved into a bonus and thus have a large reduction in 2009 cap cost (some savings is available). Salaries cannot increase by more than 30% from 2009 to 2010.
4) The current $4.2M of cap money was viewed by many as no problem, with room to sign Jason Taylor. There will indeed be a cap hit associated with the draft. There almost always is. The cost is concentrated in the first and second rounds. The 3rd rounders break about even and the later picks save a bit. A cap hit of $2M has been estimated earlier this offseason, but we will not know until next month.
The real additional cost is of not of the 51 top players or of the rookies. Miguel has estimated that the items below will cost about $3.2M. I don't know if this amount includes the injury reserve for the season. The cost below can be offset by cuts of players with significant salaries as has happened in the past, often the month before the season starts. Clay and Milloy come to mind as such cuts.
A) Player 52 and Player 53
B) players on IR at the beginning of the season (also PUP I think)
C) the Practice Squad
D) replacement reserve for players to be acquired during the season
5) BTW, veteran free agents on a one year contract do NOT have a significant effect on the cap. Depending on their number of years, additional free agents might cost $150K or so each.
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MG's BOTTOM LINE
I believe that we will need a restructure/extension or two to sign the rookies and have enough to meet the cap for Game One. Brady, Light, Faulk and Green are potential candidates. I don't expect this to be an issue. However, if we need an additional $3M of cap room for Jason Taylor, then $3M or so of cap money needs to be found. Restructuring Brady AND restructuring Light AND extending Faulk AND extending Green might get us there. Three of these might get us there. The point is that this will not be an insignificant undertaking. I think most of us would rather extend Wilfork if we could find a way to squeeze out the cap monies (rather than signing Taylor).