Releasing vets with a guaranteed salary - New England Patriots Forums

Fencer · 10-20-2009, 09:57 AM

I would have thought:

1. Galloway had a guaranteed salary on the Pats
2. If they waived him and some other team picked him up, they'd be responsible for paying the balance of his salary.
3. If he was cut and could choose where he signed, the Pats would have to pay his salary for the whole year.

I'm guessing at least one of those is wrong, however, perhaps #3 in that (here comes my guess) it was an agreed-upon cut.

Does anybody have insight into all this, and confidence in that insight?

Similarly questions could be asked about other vets, of course.

***pats1*** · 10-20-2009, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fencer

I would have thought:

1. Galloway had a guaranteed salary on the Pats
2. If they waived him and some other team picked him up, they'd be responsible for paying the balance of his salary.
3. If he was cut and could choose where he signed, the Pats would have to pay his salary for the whole year.

I'm guessing at least one of those is wrong, however, perhaps #3 in that (here comes my guess) it was an agreed-upon cut.

Does anybody have insight into all this, and confidence in that insight?

Similarly questions could be asked about other vets, of course.

Galloway's salary is not "guaranteed" explicitly in his contract like others' are. It's only "guaranteed" because he can collect termination pay in the amount of the remaining balance. The team he signed with (the Bucs) will still have to pay him whatever salary they signed him at. I am not sure if Galloway is eligible now, that he has already re-signed, to collect termination pay in the amount of his remaining salary balance with the Pats.

EDIT: Here's the relevant CBA section. I think I was wrong with my last point; it appears that Galloway can collect termination pay (as long as he hasn't done it before in his career):

Quote:

ARTICLE XXIII
TERMINATION PAY
[SUBJECT TO REVIEW BY BENEFITS EXPERTS]

Section 1. Eligibility: Any player who has completed the season in which his fourth year or more of credited
service under the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Retirement Plan has been earned shall be eligible for termination pay
under this Article if:

(1) He is released after his Club’s first regular season game; and
(2) He has made the Inactive or Active List of his Club on or after the date of his Club’s first regular season
game.

Subject to Section 3 below, the amount of termination pay payable to such player shall be the unpaid balance of
his Paragraph 5 Salary for that League Year. Termination pay under this Article shall be claimed and payable
no sooner than one day after the end of the regular season schedule, and no later than February 1. A player will
not be entitled to termination pay more than once during his playing career in the NFL.

Section 2. Regular Season Signings: The termination pay under this Article of any player who is terminated
from a contract which was signed after the beginning of the regular season in which he is terminated shall be
limited to an amount equal to the greater of: (i) the unpaid balance of the initial 25% of such player’s Paragraph
5 Salary, or (ii) one week’s salary up to a maximum of the Active/Inactive List Paragraph 5 Salary of a player
with ten or more Credited Seasons as specified in Article XXXVIII, Section 6, notwithstanding the actual
number of Credited Seasons the player has earned. For purposes of this 25% calculation only, the term
“Paragraph 5 Salary” shall be defined as the proportionate remaining balance to be paid at the time such player
is signed by the Club. (For example and without limitation, if a player is signed after the second week of the
2006 regular season to a Contract with a Paragraph 5 Salary of $850,000, his Paragraph 5 Salary for purposes of
the 25% calculation shall be $750,000 or 15/17ths of $850,000.)

Section 3. Ineligibility For Termination Pay:
(a) An otherwise qualified player will not be entitled to termination pay under this Article if the Club can
demonstrate that, after receipt of a written warning from his Club in the form attached hereto as Appendix N,
the player failed to exhibit the level of good faith effort which can be reasonably expected from NFL players on
that Club.
(b) A player shall not be eligible for Termination Pay if, without missing a game check at the
Paragraph 5 rate stated in his terminated contract, he signs a Player Contract with the same Club that terminated
his contract, which new contract provides for Paragraph 5 salary at a rate equal to or greater than that of his
terminated contract. If the player’s new contract is subsequently terminated, however, he shall be eligible for
Termination Pay for such subsequent termination.

***MoLewisrocks*** · 10-20-2009, 10:02 AM

They may have felt that his remaining salary would impact who made a waiver claim and the likely didn't want him to land back in the AFC. May have even worked this out for him, and for all we know he feels he's toast and preferred to close it out somewhere familiar. Probably has a home there still and certainly has friends.

***JSn*** · 10-20-2009, 10:05 AM

Eric Alexander and TBC will be back with extensions.