The preseason is over but the regular season doesn’t kick off until a week from Wednesday. So, what are the 32 National Football League franchises doing now?
The most important decisions an organization can make is who to keep on their 53-man roster, who to put on their practice squad and who to cut loose. The draft is important, it is most often the foundation for a successful franchise, but who to keep and who to acquire in trades and free agency is equally vital to building a winner.
It is not all based on talent.
Salary cap consideration can end careers, both for players and general managers who mismanage their team’s allocation of funds to attract talent. Some teams seem to always find ways to get what they want despite salary cap situations that appear destined to curb their ability to attract and sign talent.
Cap space or the lack of it doesn’t necessarily point to a winner or loser.
Consider the Miami Dolphins, they have roughly 16 million in cap space, but they have a huge amount of money committed to players no longer on their roster. This is mismanagement, and the reason the Dolphins have recently gone through both a general manager and head coach change.