One of the first steps every NFL team takes going into the offseason is to evaluate the roster top to bottom to ensure they’re allocating their cap space in the best way possible. This leads to an annual round of cuts before the start of free agency with teams releasing players they don’t think are worth the salary anymore.

There’s little room for sentimentality, and teams can be ruthless and cold if they think it will save a buck. The flip side is this adds an influx of talent to the free agent pool. Often some of the best signings of the year are cuts from other teams.

The Steelers, Bears and Raiders have already kicked off the process with a few cuts. Here’s a look at who else might be on the chopping block around the league:

Glossary

Cap Space: The NFL sets a salary cap which is the maximum amount teams are allowed to spend on players. In 2024, it is projected to be around $242.5 million. To find a team’s cap space, take the salary cap number, add a team’s unspent cap space from the year before and then subtract their obligations which in the offseason are the 51 highest-paid players. Here’s a snapshot of where things currently stand, via Over The Cap.

Dead money: Money that has already been paid to the player and is spread out over the remaining years of their contract. When a player is cut or traded, all remaining dead money on the deal “accelerates” to the current season as a charge on the salary cap.

June 1 cut: An exception to how dead money normally works. For cuts and trades after June 1, teams are only responsible for the dead money from the current year with the rest accelerating to the following year. Teams can designate two players each offseason as June 1 cuts and release them before that date.

Restructure: Outside of cutting a player, teams can create cap space by restructuring a player’s contract. They do this by taking their compensation and converting it into a signing bonus, spreading that sum over the remainder of the contract up to five years. That amount then becomes dead money.

49ers
For better or worse, the 49ers are committed to their current core of players, which they’re probably content with given it was a Super Bowl-caliber roster. They’ll need to create some cap space through restructures or extensions while being cautious about which players they reduce their flexibility with in future seasons. There’s not much fat on the roster to cut.

Greenlaw is listed here mainly because of the torn Achilles he suffered in the Super Bowl. Usually it takes six months post-surgery for players to return to the field, which could put Greenlaw back in late August. But it’s a gnarly injury. If Greenlaw weren’t such a valued starter for San Francisco and one of their tone-setters whenever he’s on the field, his outlook would be cloudier. As it is, I would guess he’s back.

McKivitz has $1 million become guaranteed on April 1 which gives the 49ers a window if they want to upgrade and move on. However, McKivitz has positional flexibility and his cap hit would not be a burden even if he wasn’t a starter. Offensive line depth is important for teams.

San Francisco signed Oliver last offseason to hopefully secure the starting slot corner job, but it turned into a rotating door for the 49ers. Oliver did play in all 17 games but lost the starting job by midseason. He ended up playing less than half the defensive snaps and did not see a snap on defense during the playoffs.

Bears
Chicago has already cut both S Eddie Jackson ($12.56M) and OL Cody Whitehair ($9.15M). Jackson hung around for a couple of years but $12 million was too much savings for the Bears to turn down and it’s a deep group of free-agent safeties. Whitehair hasn’t been a great fit with the new regime and Chicago will continue to retool the offensive line.

As for Blasingame, he’s a good role fullback and cheap, but it all depends on what new OC Shane Waldron envisions for the offense. He didn’t use a fullback much in Seattle but Blasingame is a versatile athlete who could carve out a role for himself as a pseudo-tight end or on special teams.

Bengals
I left out several veterans like DT B.J. Hill, CB Mike Hilton, C Ted Karras and G Alex Cappa who all told would save the Bengals $25 million if cut. However, all four are still playing at a reasonably high level and there are not necessarily clear upgrades waiting in the wings. For a Bengals team that still sees a wide-open window to compete in 2024, I don’t expect a huge shakeup.

Mixon, on the other hand, should be concerned. Cincinnati leveraged him into a pay cut last summer and could save a significant chunk by cutting him this year. Running back is a lot easier to upgrade than most positions and there will likely be a plethora of options between free agency and the draft for the Bengals to consider. Mixon’s struggles in pass protection have been a point of frustration for the staff, so they could look for an opportunity to get a better all-around back in.

Scott didn’t pan out as well as the Bengals hoped but they will need some other players to emerge at safety to make it worth moving on from his contract. He’s still solid depth at that price. Carman has been on the bust track for a while, and if a younger player beats him out in camp, his salary will work against him.

Bills
Buffalo has a ton of work to do on the cap this offseason to even get out of the red. They can restructure contracts for players like QB Josh Allen and knock out a chunk of their deficit, but some cuts will be impossible to avoid.

The biggest question here is how the Bills handle their secondary. If they cut all the defensive backs listed here and didn’t re-sign pending free agents like S Micah Hyde, CB Dane Jackson or S Taylor Rapp, they would be starting virtually from scratch. Perhaps young DBs like Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam are ready to be starters but that’s a big risk for a team with championship aspirations like the Bills view themselves as.

Morse is 32 years old and has been the same solid guy for a couple years now. He’s still above average in pass protection but a liability at times in the run game who can be overpowered at the point of attack. His deal represents significant potential savings. Buffalo could cut Morse and lean on OL Ryan Bates as an insurance policy while looking for a center in the draft.

Bills GM Brandon Beane indicated they want Hines back in 2024 after he missed the entire season due to a torn ACL in a jet ski accident. However, it’s hard to see him coming back at that number. Hines would likely be amenable to a pay…