Yeah but the $275k you save is not going to fill his role either. Why pay him $17m to leave when you can pay him $17m to sit on IR and see if he get healthy.
I think they will try and do a restructure and have him take a pay cut. Like you said he is a 35 year old player coming off injury. His only market is NO and if he does leave is taking a massive pay cut anyways. I am sure the could work something out that reduces his overall cap hit this year, without putting more dead money on the books in the future and lets him finish out his career in NO.