I'm going to approach this as if Ireland is fired because I'm pretty sure he will be.
Right away you just have to look at the fact that we have guys like Jake Long, Reggie Bush, Randy Starks, Brian Hartline, Sean Smith and Anthony Fasano with expiring contracts.
Some GMs will look at Brian Hartline and see a solid player that wins against single coverage, catches the football, is smart, and has ideal kinesthetic sense. Some GMs will look at him as a guy that has all the physicality and toughness of toilet paper. High quality toilet paper, maybe like a Charmin brand, but toilet paper nonetheless. If you're pulling a GM like Eric DeCosta from the Baltimore system, I think there's an increased chance of the latter. If you're pulling a GM from the Green Bay system (say a Russ Ball) on the thought that he'd be more in tune with what guys like Philbin and Sherman really want on their team, then I think chances are higher on the former view on Hartline. I also think a guy like Nick Caserio would like Hartline.
I think most GMs would make it a priority to re-sign Jake Long. I've gone back and forth on this. I don't think he's worth 10% of your salary structure but at the same time as we go on and see just how thinly talented this roster is, it's tough to justify actively giving up some of the very few truly talented players you do have. If you're awash in talent to where you have a hard time fitting it all under your salary structure in a manner that best befits winning football games, THEN maybe you get to be picky about the idea of whether it's OK to let a Jake Long walk because he wants to be 10% of your salary structure and you think he's only worth 8.5%. We're not there yet, and it looks like we're not even close to there yet.
I think most GMs would make it a priority to re-sign a Randy Starks as well. Bottom line is this guy is one of the best DTs in football and makes plays in both phases. That's really valuable to a team, more so than a Paul Soliai who usually makes plays in one phase and has to come off the field 40% of the time. Again, when you don't have a ton of talent, you don't let truly good talent walk because of nitpicky resource allocation questions.
I think a lot of GMs would be willing to hit the reset button on the tight end position by allowing Anthony Fasano to walk, unless he sits out there for a while with very few offers and so his contract demands come down. I don't know what he's demanding but he's going to be viewed by most as a #2 TE so it can't be much.
I don't know what Reggie Bush has done to turn these coaches off to him but he's done something and it's a shame because he finally won me over this year. I think a lot of GMs would hit the reset button on him, though...allowing Lamar Miller a chance to shine.
Teams don't let competent corners walk. The passing game is too big a part of football nowadays. Most GMs would put a priority on retaining Sean Smith. He's the only corner on the team worth keeping around.
Richard Marshall would be a prime contender to be cut. There really weren't many teams interested in him as a corner coming out of Arizona. I would love to experiment with him at free safety but that's not an idea that has a high likelihood of being subscribed to by prospective GMs.
I think most GMs would see that Richie Incognito and John Jerry are not right for this system. Incognito would be cut. Jerry could stick around and compete for a 6th or 7th OL spot.
Considering the guys that even new GMs will want to focus on re-signing, and also considering the fact that many of them will still want to hit free agency in order to bring in some of "their" guys...you do have to look at some current higher priced players like Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett as potential cuts. Probably Burnett more so than Dansby.
Goes without saying they'll let Tony McDaniel walk on an expiring contract. He should've been cut to save the money and pass it forward to next year.
Dan Carpenter will be cut in favor of a young leg, much as Dan Carpenter once got kept over a more expensive veteran Jay Feely.
