Redskins Had Little Cap Room, Got Haynesworth Anyway

Wouldn't you know that the biggest free agent on the market would end up signing with a team that had little cap room.

SCHEFTER'S CAP REPORT
Most Cap Room
Tampa Bay	$61 million
Kansas City	$57 million
Philadelphia	$48 million
Denver	$37 million
Green Bay	$34 million
Least Cap Room
Carolina	$1.9 million
New England	$3.2 million
Indianapolis	$6.6 million
Pittsburgh	$7.4 million
Washington	$8.1 million

According to NFL.com's Adam Schefter, the Redskins only had $8.1 million in cap room when the free agency period began. But that didn't get in the way of the Redskins locking up the top player on the market, thanks to a massive seven-year, $100 million deal with Albert Haynesworth. The Redskins could do it like they do with many of their free agent deals, because they use significant signing bonuses and roster bonuses that keep the initial cap hit reasonable.

And with no salary cap in the 2010 season and a large bankroll, Daniel Snyder may not be done. The other teams that are closest to the cap are much less likely to be big players in free agency; All four of them spent some cap room to keep their own players. Carolina has already gotten it's biggest priority done by re-signing Jordan Gross and franchising Julius Peppers. New England franchised Matt Cassell. Indianapolis re-signed Kelvin Hayden and Jeff Saturday and the Steelers franchised Max Starks.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Bucs and Chiefs each have more than $55 million to spend, but with Haynesworth off the market, they are in danger of spending Mercedes prices on Daewoo free agents -- most teams have a ton of money to spend, but there are very few Pro Bowlers on the market.