The LA Chargers made the first player-related move of the offseason on Tuesday by cutting veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks after just one year with the team. By making this move, the Chargers get closer to being cap compliant by freeing up $6.5 million in cap space.
According to Over The Cap, the Chargers are currently $19.1 million over next year's salary cap. This is before factoring in Corey Linsley, whose retirement will save another $1.2 million after June 1.
The Chargers obviously have to make more moves to become cap compliant and cutting Kendricks is just the first of several moves that the team is going to make. Now that the Kendricks move is official, we can look ahead at the other moves on the docket this offseason.
Chargers will extend Keenan Allen
This is something we have touched on for weeks here at Bolt Beat as the most logical way to save money with Keenan Allen. The Chargers can add another 2-3 years to Allen's expiring contract and convert some of his $18.1 million base salary into future bonus money to be paid out.
The price of an Allen extension might be higher than initially expected so the Chargers may not be comfortable converting as much of his base salary as previously thought. That being said, the Chargers can still save an extra $10-15 million on this year's salary cap by making this move.
While Allen's age is a partial concern, he proved that he can still play at a high level this season. Sometimes in roster building, you have to just bite the bullet and take a risk, and extending Allen is a necessary risk. With the other moves the Chargers will make, as well as the big contracts coming off the books in the next two years, the Bolts can afford it.
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