MONDAY, 12:12pm: According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter links), Bowen agreed to cut his base salary by $2.8MM for 2014. He can make up to $2.05MM of that money back through per-game roster bonuses and playing-time incentives, but since only a portion of those count against the cap, the team creates about $2.3MM in cap room with the restructure, says Pelissero.
FRIDAY, 3:28pm: The Redskins have renegotiated the contract for veteran defensive end Stephen Bowen, reports John Keim of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The specifics on Bowen’s reworked deal have yet to surface, but the move figures to clear some 2014 cap room for Washington.
General manager Bruce Allen had indicated earlier in the week that the Redskins only had about $2MM in cap space, suggesting some cap-clearing moves would be necessary before the regular season. Reducing Bowen’s cap number should help — the 30-year-old was set to earn a base salary of $4.4MM, with an overall cap hit of $7.02MM. Turning a portion of that salary into a signing bonus, or into other forms of bonuses or incentives, would bring that figure down. Bowen is also currently on the books for a cap hit of $8MM+ in 2015, including a $5.4MM base salary.
A starter at defensive end since arriving from the Cowboys in 2011, Bowen had 41 tackles and six sacks in his first year in Washington. However, he has struggled to make the same impact over the last two seasons, ranking among the bottom 10 qualified 3-4 defensive ends in both 2012 and 2013, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required).
After undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee, which forced him to miss six games last season, Bowen remains on the preseason PUP list, and even when he returns to the lineup, doesn’t seem likely to start for a team that signed Jason Hatcher this offseason and is also bringing back Jarvis Jenkins and Chris Baker.