Ruskell told reporters, including Clare Farnsworth, that the savings realized from Marcus Trufant's long term deal are already spent.
After the news conference to announce Trufant's six-year, $50.2 million contract, the club president said the money basically was accounted for: $3-$4 million for the rookie pool that will be needed to sign the draft choices and college free agents; $2 million for an injury-protection fund to sign players when others are lost for the season; and signing a veteran kicker.This seems to be very telling. It had been assumed and speculated by many that the savings the club would get from designating Shaun Alexander a June 1st cut would be used to sign the rookies and as emergency for the season. Well, Ruskell has allocated the Trufant savings for that. With no major targets left on the free agent market, it would seem the team won't do anything except add a kicker till after the draft.
So it would appear that the team doesn't need to cut Shaun to save money. Will they still cut him? I think so, and probably shortly. It appears though that the team will take the 125K hit this year and avoid any dead money. I must say, in a year where it looked like the team was in a bad spot, they managed to get a lot done. It is possible depending on how the draft goes that they will clear even more space, much like last year when after drafting Josh Wilson, the team cut Kelly Herndon. Players like Jason Babin, and even Mike Green are possible subtractions if replacements are drafted.
This team has worked its way out of the toughest spot it has been in financially, in the Tim Ruskell era. If they get a few more years out of Kerney and Grant, we may look back at 2008 as the teams best offseason. END
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