Richardson Done for Good? Who else is facing the axe?

Paul Richardson is done for the year, likely bringing his extremely unproductive two-year run with the Redskins to an end. There's almost no way the Redskins can justify wasting more money on a player that has tantalizing talent but is almost never available. Now - who is next?

Paul Richardson was placed on injured reserve on Saturday. That's not a surprise, because his entire career has been one injury after another. 

I was wrong on this signing and everyone else was right. Clearly, I knew of his injury history and obviously that was concerning, but I figured....ehh nevermind. 

The future for Richardson is murky at best. 

Immediately, you think about cutting Richardson  because that's the easy thing to do with young receivers Terry McLaurin, Kelvin Harmon and Steven Sims Jr. 

It's just not as easy as it seems. 

If the Redskins were to release Paul Richardson prior to June 1st, they'll take on a $6 million dollar dead money cap hit and save $2.5 million from Richardson's 2020 cap charge of $8.5 million. 

If they cut him with a post June 1st designation, they'll be charged $2 million in dead money against the 2020 cap but then take on a $4 million cap hit on the 2021 cap, per OvertheCap.com (OTC). 

The tricky part is that if Richardson is on the Redskins roster as of March 22nd, $3.5 million of his 2020 base salary becomes guaranteed. 

Essentially, he'll have to be cut before then but the main question is how the Redskins deal with the dead money. 

Per OTC premium, Richardson has a positional cap value of $1.769 million or well below his average per year salary of $8 million. 

One thing is for sure, it was another terrible contract ultimately orchestrated by Bruce Allen. Perhaps that's unfair, but if we're going to give him credit for certain "finds" and good moves like Tress Way, Dustin Hopkins and Ereck Flowers - he must take the ultimate blame for the way the football side worked out and especially the financial side. 

A few other potential/sure fire candidates for getting chopped are:

Josh Norman: A $12 million base salary for a player that should have been cut last year is on the books for 2020. The Redskins will have to absorb a $3 million dead money cap hit. It's more than worth it. The book is closed on another horrible free agent signing. 

Jordan Reed: The Redskins oft-injured tight end has a $8.25 million base salary and a $1.8 million bonus proration. Washington would have to absorb that money in a dead cap hit but be able to save $8.5 million in 2020 plus chop off their obligation to Reed in 2021 with no dead cap charge for a further savings of $8.75 million.

There's more but Trent Williams, Alex Smith and Morgan Moses all bring complicated issues to the table. Norman and Reed are the easiest solutions. 

Chris Russell is the Publisher of Maven & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.