Big contracts are only a blessing for players when they get to hang around to earn them.
The Bengals announced they released cornerback Jason Allen Wednesday, wiping his $3 million base salary off the books.
He had signed a two-year, $8.2 million deal with the Bengals a year ago, but with the team re-signing Terence Newman and Adam Jones, he was a spare part, and making far too much money to be one of those.