What Should the Future Hold for Pierre Garcon in Washington?

As the Washington Redskins begin the process of rebuilding a roster that has generated only seven wins the last two seasons, the front office will have major decisions to make regarding several expensive veterans. 

The most expensive of those players might be wide receiver Pierre Garcon, who has two years remaining on the five-year, $42.5 million deal he signed to become the Redskins' No. 1 receiver in 2012. 

So much has changed since then, though, and Garcon's production appears to be dropping as his cap hit rises. He was signed by Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan, but Allen is now in a business-oriented role and Shanahan is long gone. New general manager Scot McCloughan has no allegiance to anyone on this roster, let alone a high-priced soon-to-be-29-year-old whose numbers declined substantially last season. 

That's not all on Garcon, who still caught 64.8 percent of the passes thrown his way by a batch of underperforming quarterbacks in 2014, but the reality is he's no longer the top receiving option in that offense. With Pro Bowler DeSean Jackson joining the fray and new head coach Jay Gruden installing an offense that spread the ball around quite evenly, Garcon was targeted less often last season than both Jackson and second-year tight end Jordan Reed. 

Player	Targets/game	Rec/game
Jordan Reed	6.4	4.9
DeSean Jackson	6.3	3.7
Pierre Garcon	5.6	3.7
Andre Roberts	4.5	2.2

I showed you only October, November and December there because it reveals just how much the Redskins seemed to shift the focus away from Garcon as the season wore on. He led the NFL in both catches and targets in 2013, and he led the team by wide margins in both categories this past September. But then, everything changed. 

This isn't really on Garcon, who according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required) dropped just two passes during the regular season and was one of only six qualified receivers with a drop rate below 3.0. But Jackson and Reed are clearly bigger parts of this offense, and both Reed and Roberts are substantially cheaper. 

Garcon is slated to count $9.7 million against the cap in 2015, with that number climbing to $10.2 million in 2016, according to Spotrac. That would make him the highest-paid skill-position player on a team that features Pro Bowlers Jackson and Alfred Morris. 

Player	Age	Hit
1. Trent Williams	26	$13.7M
2. Pierre Garcon	28	$9.7M
3. DeSean Jackson	28	$9.3M
4. Stephen Bowen	30	$8.0M
5. Barry Cofield	30	$7.7M

The harsh reality is the Redskins simply can't afford to keep Garcon around in that price range. This is a team that has only a modest $13 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap, and has to rebuild its secondary while revamping the rest of the defense and the offensive line.

Plus, quarterback Robert Griffin III, left tackle Trent Williams, outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan and Morris are all scheduled to become free agents next offseason. The 'Skins will need plenty of free cap space in order to keep some or all of those Pro Bowlers around.  

Team	Total $	% of space
1. Miami Dolphins	$28.5M	18.9%
2. Houston Texans	$19.4M	14.4%
3. Washington Redskins	$18.1M	13.8%
4. Detroit Lions	$18.2M	13.7%
5. Denver Broncos	$18.2M	13.3%

The thing about Garcon is he's still young and talented enough to be a No. 1 receiver elsewhere, so there might be some trade value there. If the Redskins are unable to get him to take a fairly sizable pay cut, that would be the next best-case scenario here. Dump the salary, gain a draft pick and move on. 

Otherwise, releasing Garcon will become the only logical option. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon