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Looking at the payroll from a payroll perspective.*



* - At least, as much as one can considering general MLS vagaries on these kinds of things.

So as we know by now, the personnel turnover has begun at RFK. Some has been good, some painful, and some just plain head-scratching. But for now, let's look at where DC United stands from a salary perspective as best we can, shall we?

As of August 1, the team salary was $3,122,138. Tossing Dennis Iapichino and his $110,000 into the mix and you're looking at $3,232,138, or almost two of this guy. With the departures of Lionard Pajoy, Carlos Ruiz and Marcelo Saragosa, you've got $375,000 in salary off the books. Adding Dwayne DeRosario into the mix virtually doubles the number to $743,750. With these four players, you have a quarter of the team payroll coming off the rolls (assuming the League's number of $2.95 million is correct), and with these four players, the youngest turns 32 this offseason, which may fit the bill of being called old money.

While the decision to not renegotiate a lower deal with DeRosario was a mild surprise, messrs Pajoy, Ruiz and Saragosa were pretty easy personnel decisions. Additionally encouraging is that there are still some easy calls to make. Sainey Nyassi and Syamsir Alam are still on the horizon, to say nothing of the decisions to retain/release James Riley and John Thorrington. If the Thorileyassialm quartet is unanimously released, the total money off the books comes to almost $1.2 million, bringing the payroll down to $2,063,688, which would easily be the lowest salary in the league. Additionally (and briefly on an off-money topic), they potentially would be looking at 6 open international roster spots once Portland returns one back at the end of the year.

Now granted, we're a) looking strictly at 2013 numbers and b) not figuring salary increases into the mix, mainly because we don't know the latter. But using the 2012 and 2013 salary cap numbers, we can speculate that next year's salary cap will crack the $3 million mark ($3.09 million to be exact) on the former. And this also does not figure the allocation money that Chest speculated about a few days ago, nor does it count the first overall pick who will likely be a Generation Adidas pick that will not count against same.

Of course, we also are not taking into account that it is Dave Kasper we are talking about, and he may either give a metric fucktonne of cash to an oft-injured and inconsistent center back or waste an international roster spot on a guy who got a job because his mother called the front office. But at least with the house being taken down to the metaphorical studs, Kasper (or whomever may take the reins) will certainly have some room to play with next year to make an imprint, for better or worse.

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