Mark Morse

Just a thought, but if these players were signed in the uncapped year, couldn't the Patriots push all of the Signing Bonus into the uncapped year and save potential salary cap space in future years?

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pats1

You can't push existing signing bonus into future years. Signing bonuses are prorated over the life of the contract.

pencilneckgeek

The question is not whether the bonuses can be pushed into future years, but rather if the Pats can address all their expiring contracts in the uncapped year next year (if there is one), put up sizeable guaranteed dollars to keep their key free agents, and then be at a competitive advantage when the cap comes back and all their bonuses have already hit during the uncapped year, rather than being amortized over the length of the contract.

lurker1965

depends on what the new CBA says. It might take signing bonuses in the uncapped year and make them count against the future cap immediately for all we know.* That is, if there is a future cap.


*Probably not, but my crystal ball is broken.

jmt57

If a team tried to maneuver around the (lack of) salary cap in an uncapped year, they could pay a larger portion of the contract as a salary rather than a signing bonus in that uncapped year. For (an extreme) example, with a 4-year $16 million contract they could pay a $13 million salary in year one (uncapped), and then a $1 million salary in each of the next three years.

The risk with this scenario is that you are assuming the cba will still be worked out and there is no lockout. The team will have already altered its cash flow by paying more real dollars now, in the uncapped year, with comparitively larger annual salaries. Then if there is a lockout the team has no revenue. That combination of a year with higher than normal expenses, followed by a year with no income could be devastating for many clubs.

One other consideration is that if some teams use this strategy, it is possible that there may be rules put in to place in regards to the salary cap to counteract it once the new cba is worked out. I'm sure if one team signs players to contracts such as this in the uncapped year, the other owners are not going to simply sit back and let those players have minimal impact on the new salary cap.

Synovia

Thats a real good way to have players hold out in year 3, saying they're "underpaid". Players like to conveniently forget that they got paid upfront.


(see the eagles for many examples...or Deion Branch)

Miguel

The current CBA covers the 2010 season, even if it is uncapped, so the proration rules would apply.

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patsfan13

What about the case Miguel, where a player signs a 5 yr contract for 25M, no bonus first year salary 15m, and the subsequent years at 2.5M, would this allow a team to avoid future cap implications?

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AndyJohnson

Theoretically. But a new CBA for 2011 would bring new rules. In 2011 what the new CBA says about signing bonusses previously paid will apply, not what the one that expires has said, right?
It seems the idea the op had was make an abnormally high portion of long term deals count on the 2010 cap, based on the rules in place, in anticipation the cap charges would be small when a new cba is signed, IF there is a cap then. Someone said pay a large year 1 salary which I think better represents the concept.
Personally, I think the players are going to be very unhappily surprised by what happens in an uncapped year.
NFL owners seem too smart and unified to run themselves out of business in uncapped bidding wars (on the other hand the cap is there becuase they didnt think they could trust themselves). I cannot see huge signing bonusses being tossed around with a lockout looming.
I think in the end uncapped=uncertainty and uncertainty=owners unwilling to spend heavily.

Miguel

From the CBA:
Amounts Treated as Signing Bonuses. For purposes of determining Team Salary under the
foregoing, the term “signing bonus” shall include:
(1) Any amount specifically described in a Player Contract as a signing bonus;
....
(5) The difference between the Salary in the second contract year and the first contract year when Salary in the second contract year is less than half the Salary called for in the first year of such Contract;

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