Oakland Raiders Trying To Restructure Carson Palmer’s Contract
By Josh Hill
The Oakland Raiders are in a bit of a pinch when it comes to Carson Palmer and his big contract and the team is going to attempt to take a bite out of it by restructuring his deal to lower his salary cap hit. This weekend it was reported that the Raiders are planing to have open competition at quarterback and with that news it makes even less sense for the Raiders to continue to pay Palmer what they’re paying him now — which is too much.
Teams around the NFL are scrambling to restructure deals they have with overpaid players at the moment with Michael Vick being the most notable player to have his deal re-done in order for the team to save some serious money.
Palmer will be competing with Terrelle Pryor for the starting job in 2013 and right now it stands as a battle that Palmer more than likely will lose. If Palmer does manage to secure the starting job, the ice he’s skating on is too thin to warrant the current contract he has and above all else, the Raiders would like to allocate money from his salary in other areas on the roster.
Vick’s deal with the Eagles is being viewed as blueprint for what the Raiders may plan to do with Palmer. With Vick, the Eagles restructured his $15.5 million base salary into a maximum $10 million salary next season. The only way Vick can earn the full $10 million is if he takes 90 percent of the snaps next year and the Eagles make the Super Bowl.
Palmer is owed $13 million next year and there is no way the Raiders are going to pay that to him. Palmer is going to have to take a massive pay cut if he wants to remain in the NFL as the last few years of his career have proven that he no longer appears to have what it takes to hack it at the pro level anymore and a $13 million next season is nothing short of highway robbery.