Plauderecke » The 5 o’clock club aims to provide a forum for reader-driven

discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.Here’s part of the current 2019 estimate from OverTheCap.PHILADELPHIAThe Eagles stand out as having the worst projected cap situation in the league.At the moment Washington Redskins T-Shirt , they are projected to be $19.5m over the salary cap.To make things more concerning for Eagles fans, Philly has about a half-dozen important players from the current squad tat will be free agents after the season ends:The Eagles used trades and free agency to successfully build a super bowl winning team in 2017, but left themselves with only 5 draft picks and a bare salary cap cupboard for 2018.Howie Roseman used some accounting tricks to keep the band together for one more season.You can see from the middle column that OTC estimates that the Eagles would be $25m over the salary cap if they signed enough players to reach the off-season 51-contract cap limit.Through 5 weeks of this season (6 for the Eagles), it’s a bit too early to tell if Howie’s attempts to keep the championship squad intact was worth it, but the Eagles will almost certainly be forced by salary cap pressure to re-make the team in the 2019 offseason.Don’t be shocked to see Howie Roseman make some trades to part with some expensive veteran players this off season in return for 2019 draft picks.Note: I wrote this article a week ago.On Thursday, with the Eagles needing to cover injuries (Jay Ajayi, etc), they took action to create some cap space.This is a pretty dramatic amount of cap space juggling — especially adding the void year at the end of the contract.This is a team that is desperately trying to reshuffle a lot of cap dollars.GIANTSThe Giants available cap space, at first blush, looks fairly healthy at $22.6m, but upon closer inspection we see that the OverTheCap number for 2019 shows only 35 players under contract.By contrast, the Eagles show 40 players, and the Redskins show 49 — nearly a full roster!In addition to carrying a $23.2m cap hit for the 38 year old Eli Manning in 2019, the Giants have some significant free agent issues to face.Let’s toss out a few assumptions, and see what that means for the G-menEven with this week’s release of Ereck Flowers, the Giants still have at least 4 key players who will be free agents at the end of this season, and the issue of replacing Flowers may still be problematic.Let’s say for a moment that they manage to keep all of them.They would still have only 39 players under contract.As far as the college draft goes, the Giants situation doesn’t look too bad for 2019; they have:1st round2nd round4th round4th round (compensatory pick expected)5th round6th roundBetween 1 and 3 seventh-round picks (two are conditional picks from trades with Broncos, Rams and Vikings).Let’s say the Giants manage to draft 5 players that make the roster.They would still need to sign 8 more players to make up the 53.These players would either need to be veteran free agents or undrafted college free agents.That’s asking Dave Gettleman to get a lot of mileage out of $22m in cap space.COWBOYSThe Cowboys don’t appear on the partial chart above because they have a whopping $69.97m in cap space for 2019.Part of the reason is that they currently have their premier pass rusher, Demarcus Lawrence (who has 5.5 sacks through the first 4 games), playing on the franchise tag.His $17m cap hit is unlikely to decrease in future years if he continues to collect sacks at a rate of more than one per game.He said this past off season that he planned to play great in ‘18 and then get paid.While there are some recognizable names on the free agent list aside from Lawrence, there’s no one that the team absolutely positively has to re-sign.Additionally, the Cowboys are likely to have 6 draft picks (they traded away, conditionally, their 6th round pick to the Bengals for Bene’ Benwikere).For the first time since 2015, the Cowboys will have enough cap space available to retain their own free agents, sign their draft picks, and fill some holes in veteran free agency, but they will need to keep a bit in the cookie jar for players like Zeke Elliott and Dak Prescott Washington Redskins Hats , whom they will probably want to extend soon.REDSKINSOTC estimates the Redskins will have $24.2m in cap space in 2019, but that is based on 49 contracts, one of the higher totals in the league.The Redskins will have 6 of their ‘regular’ draft picks in 2019, having used the 6th round pick to select Adonis Alexander in the Supplemental Draft.In addition, the Redskins are widely expected to be awarded 4 compensatory picks as a result of the 2018 free agency period.The team’s need to retain its own pending free agents will be limited.Fans have been focused for months on Preston Smith, Brandon Scherff and Jamison Crowder as the only three pending free agents likely to be priority signings, or to command large paychecks.Of the three, only Scherff is widely accepted as a must-sign player.Smith’s inconsistency makes him appear to be as expendable in 2019 as Spencer Long and Trent Murphy were in 2018, and there’s a feeling that Trey Quinn may make be the replacement for Jamison Crowder.So, while the Redskins won’t enjoy the large cap surplus that Jerry Jones will be able to go shopping with, the fact is, the ‘Skins team looks to be pretty stocked with talent at most key positions, with enough young developing players and draft capital to keep the team from regressing without having to spend big in free agency.Still, if the team wants to create some room, there are opportunities.I wrote an article just last month discussing options for creating cap room.The three likeliest targets for trade or release are Josh Norman, Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis.Moving on from even one of these players will have a significant cap benefit for the Redskins; making a move on two — or all three — of them would significantly change the Redskins cap situation for 2019 and 2020.Eric Schaffer continues to be a quiet achiever.Redskins Vs. Ravens: Studs and Duds The final preseason game of the summer is usually much ado about nothing - except for those guys fighting for a job on the 53-man roster. Thursday night's game was very ugly on both sides of the football, but that is often to be expected when second, third and fourth teamers play a lot of minutes. Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed up by some notes.Studs:Rob Kelley - As pretty much everyone expected, Rob Kelley came out and showed up when he needed to most (albeit against the Ravens reserves), virtually guaranteeing himself a spot on the 53-man roster (hey, gotta give credit where credit is due).He had 11 rushes for 49 yards and caught two passes for 14 yards. He even showed some burst to the outside on his touchdown run late in the second quarter that was called back for holding. Most importantly, he didn’t fumble. He did drop a ball that was right in his hands down by the goalline, but we all know he’s not a receiver.De’Veon Smith - Smith looked explosive on his seven carries. The screen pass he took for a touchdown was beautiful! I don’t think he’s got a shot to make the roster, but this could be a great audition for another team looking for some running back depth. Trey Quinn - Quinn was a consistent target for Kevin Hogan when he was in the game, showing the ability to run good routes to get open and catch the ball in traffic underneath. He was good in the open field after the reception as well, and was very good on special teams. He’s a lock to make this roster. Simmie Cobbs Jr. - All this guy does is show up week after week. He led all Redskins receivers with 75 yards on three catches. He’s likely destined for the practice squad, but he has a future in the league; if not here, somewhere. J.P. Holtz - The fullback/tight end made some excellent lead block to spring the running backs for nice gains. He also lined up in-line and stoned his man on a few occassions. Holtz caught two passes for 11 yards and a touchdown. He’s really going to give the coaching staff something to think about regarding the 53-man roster.Ryan Anderson - Anderson played very well against the Ravens reserves Washington Redskins Hoodie , collecting four tackles (3 solo), one of which was for a loss, and assisted on the Pete Robertson sack. He looked fast, active and showed a non-stop motor. He also looked pretty good when asked to drop in a zone. Excellent game for the second year OLB. Hopefully this can translate to the regular season. Shaun Dion Hamilton -Hamilton was juked pretty bad and missed a tackle on the Ravens first drive of the game. Outside of that, I though he played very well. He was aggressive in filling gaps, collecting a few tackles for a loss, and made a very nice play down by the goalline. He should have a nice role this fall with the team, and may be the future at inside linebacker. Tim Settle - Settle continued his disruptive preseason Thursday night. He may not have stuffed the stat sheet, but he was a force inside, and looked unblockable on some plays. I loved his stunt in the second quarter where he lined up as a 3-technique on the right side, looped around the left defensive end, and absolutely destroyed the left tackle attempting to block him while he put pressure on the quarterback. This kid was a draft-day steal!Duds:Kevin Hogan - Hogan played the entire game, and looked uncomfortable for the majority ofit. Granted, his offensive line was pretty bad in pass protection, but some of the decisions he made were just head-scratching. The interception into triple coverage was awful.Tony Bergstrom - The veteran center played a very poor game against the Ravens reserves on Thursday night. He was pushed into the backfield on multiple occasions, and was PARTIALLY responsible for the Perine fumble. If it wasn’t for his versatility, we wouldn’t even be talking about him possible making the team’s 53. Geron Christian - Christian struggled in pass protection at left tackle. There were times when he just looked completely lost out there. He’s clearly not ready to contribute this year. Martrell Spaight - For as good as Spaight looked last week, he was equally as bad last night against the Ravens. He missed multiple tackles in the hole, and looked sluggish overall. If the team keeps five linebackers, he has a shot. If not, his time as a Redskin is over. Fish Smithson - Smithson just takes horrible angles to the football and doesn’t do much when he gets there. This was evident on the touchdown by Mayle in the third quarter. He’s an ankle-diver who misses way too many tackles. Dustin Hopkins - A 37 yard missed field goal...seriously? your ONLY job is to kick!Notes: - Apparently Apke can’t cover a TE either. He was burnt down the seam by fellow rookie Mark Andrews who got inside of him, and beat him downfield. - Bibbs is a great receiver out of the backfield, and is very good at blitz pick-up. He should make the team over Rob Kelley just for this.- The fumble by Perine was not good, but that attempted block by Bergstrom may have been even worse. I don’t think Perine was expecting that...but still, you NEED to protect the football.- T.J. Clemmings looked very rusty at right tackle. He had some good plays, and some bad ones. I think his job is in jeopardy.- Nice interception by Texada - talk about being in the right place at the right time...- Jerod Fernandez continues to make splash plays. I’d really like to see this kid on the practice squad.- Adonis Alexander had an up-and-down game. He missed some tackles, and that was concerning, but he also showed his great length on some plays in coverage.