San Diego Chargers Dwight Freeney Restructures Contract

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego, CA- San Diego Chargers and Dwight Freeney agreed to restructure his contract Saturday morning to give the Chargers more cap space. Freeney cut from $3.5 million to $2.5 million according to Joel Corry of CBS Sports. 

Freeney, 34, was a huge loss to the Chargers pass rush last season, as his ability to rush the passer was missed throughout the season, after he tore his quad tendon rushing Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo at the start of the season and required season-ending surgery.

The Chargers have now cleared $4 million in cap space this month after restructuring the contracts of wide receiver Eddie Royal, outside linebacker Jarret Johnson and now Dwight Freeney.

The Chargers had enough cap space to offer wide receiver Steve Smith and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, even though they failed to sign either of them.

The last remaining contact that needs to be restructured is offensive lineman Jeromey Clary. Clary is set to make $4.55 million next season in the final year of his four year contract with a cap hit of $6.25 million dollars. If the Chargers are unable to restructure Clary’s contract, the team may need to release the veteran offensive lineman. While Clary was an important piece on the offensive line for the Chargers last season with his ability to play both tackle and guard positions and was crucial to the depth of the offensive-line when its starters went down throughout the season. The Chargers just have too many pressing needs they need to address this off-season to keep Clary at his current salary.