Chopping Block: Cuts start today, is Dan Connolly first to be gone?

The NFL's waiver period starts today.

What does that mean? It means the teams can start cutting players. We've already looked at a large group of players that are prime candidates to be shown the door for monetary reasons, but we've yet to touch on one of the biggest names.

Dan Connolly.

There's four million reasons to let Dan Connolly go, in other words, he will hit the cap $4,083,334 in 2014 (patscap.com). To give some context to that number, it would make Connolly the seventh highest paid player on the team, at least salary cap wise.

While Connolly has played largely solid on the right side of the Patriots offensive line, any fan would be remiss if they thought he couldn't be efficiently replaced by someone who wouldn't be at the top of the team's payroll. It doesn't make much sense to have both of your starting guards among the top 10 highest paid players on the team (Logan Mankins has the third highest cap hit at $10,500,000).

Making matters easier for the Patriot is that if they were to cut Connolly, they would only suffer a $1,083,334 hit, saving them $3 million dollars in total.

So, while we'll always cherish Connolly's kick return in 2010 (video above) he may have played his last snap as a Patriot, unless the team brings him back at a reduced rate.

Who are some of the other players the team could likely cut to save cash?

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