The 'morals' clause and the 'forfeiture' rules

[ctpatsfan77]

FWIW, there's been more than one or two posts on these recently, so I figured I'd post the relevant portions from the CBA.

First, the morals clause from the standard player contract:

11. SKILL, PERFORMANCE AND CONDUCT. . . . If at any time, in the sole judgment of Club, Player’s skill or performance has been unsatisfactory as compared with that of other players competing for positions on Club’s roster, or if Player has engaged in personal conduct reasonably judged by Club to adversely affect or reflect on Club, then Club may terminate this contract. In addition, during the period any salary cap is legally in effect, this contract may be terminated if, in Club’s opinion, Player is anticipated to make less of a contribution to Club’s ability to compete on the playing field than another player or players whom Club intends to sign or attempts to sign, or another player or players who is or are already on Club’s roster, and for whom Club needs room.

Second, the bonus forfeiture language that Miguel posted:

Forfeitable Breach. Any player who (i) willfully fails to report, practice or play with the result that the player’s ability to fully participate and contribute to the team is substantially undermined (for example, without limitation, holding out or leaving the squad absent a showing of extreme personal hardship); or (ii) is unavailable to the team due to conduct by him that results in his incarceration; or (iii) is unavailable to the team due to a nonfootball injury that resulted from a material breach of Paragraph 3 of his NFL Player Contract; or (iv) voluntarily retires (collectively, any “Forfeitable Breach”) may be required to forfeit signing bonus, roster bonus, option bonus and/or reporting bonus, and no other Salary, for each League Year in which a Forfeitable Breach occurs (collectively, “Forfeitable Salary Allocations”), as set forth below:

So, that's that, right?

Not quite.

There's this paragraph that precedes the one I just quoted above:

Section 9. Forfeiture of Salary: Players and Clubs may not agree upon contract provisions that authorize the Club to obtain a forfeiture of any Salary from a player except to the extent and in the circumstances provided in this Section 9. For the avoidance of doubt, Paragraph 5 Salary already earned may never be forfeited, and other Salary already earned may never be forfeited except as expressly provided herein. The maximum permitted forfeitures described below do not in any way obligate any player or Club to agree to any forfeiture.

In other words: clauses can be inserted into the player's agreement that allow bonus forfeiture, but they are not mandatory. Moreover, they can be more limited than the ones included in Section 9, but not harsher.

So it's not at all clear that the Patriots would be able to recapture that money—and they may still have to pay him more over the next two years, even if he is cut, according to Ian Rapoport.

 

[Salva135]

Yeah, it sounds like the Pats haven't insulated themselves from this circumstance at all. Can't believe this is happening to an organization that supposedly thinks ten steps ahead.

If Hernandez gets arrested and cut and recoups a dime, then they are total jackasses.

 

[DarrylS]

We do not know the specifics of Hernandez contract...

So it is still not clear...

 

[moosekill]

I don't care, if this goes badly, if the Patriots actually get their money back. I do care, if this goes badly, that the Patriots get salary cap relief from his release.

 

[Miguel]

Potential Salary Loss for Aaron Hernandez - Over the Cap

may be helpful.

 

[Rob0729]

FWIW, there's been more than one or two posts on these recently, so I figured I'd post the relevant portions from the CBA.

First, the morals clause from the standard player contract:



Second, the bonus forfeiture language that Miguel posted:



So, that's that, right?

Not quite.

There's this paragraph that precedes the one I just quoted above:



In other words: clauses can be inserted into the player's agreement that allow bonus forfeiture, but they are not mandatory. Moreover, they can be more limited than the ones included in Section 9, but not harsher.

So it's not at all clear that the Patriots would be able to recapture that money—and they may still have to pay him more over the next two years, even if he is cut, according to Ian Rapoport.

Rappaort only mentioned the lack of a failure to report clause, not the morals clause. The Pats did not include a failure to report clause in the contract which means if he suspended or any other reason. He never mentioned whether there is a morals clause or not. Personally, I think it is shoddy reporting either way if it is in there or not.

I did see several reporters tweet earlier in the week (I wish I could find them) saying they spoke with the Patriots and they indicated that the Patriots are well protected contract wise if Hernandez is arrested. That indicates that there is probably a morals clause in the contract (pretty standard today).

I think Rappaport's story needs to be taken with a grain of salt because he makes no mention of a lack of or inclusion of a morals clause. The clause he focused on is only relevant if Hernadez is not cut by the team.

 

[Rob0729]

Potential Salary Loss for Aaron Hernandez - Over the Cap

may be helpful.

Thanks Miguel, kinda makes Rappaport's report sensational, but not very meaningful. Unless maybe Hernandez never gets convicted of anything, but serves a long suspension.

I guess I may be wrong about the morals clause too since the CBA pretty much covers it.

So it may be in Hernandez's best interest to make a deal. If the police end up charging him with murder and he is denied bail, he would forfeit the remaining part of his signing bonus prior to a trial.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Thanks Miguel, kinda makes Rappaport's report sensational, but not very meaningful. Unless maybe Hernandez never gets convicted of anything, but serves a long suspension.

I guess I may be wrong about the morals clause too since the CBA pretty much covers it.

So it may be in Hernandez's best interest to make a deal. If the police end up charging him with murder and he is denied bail, he would forfeit the remaining part of his signing bonus prior to a trial.

Again, the issue is not the presence of a morals clause; that is standard boilerplate language. The question is if there is a bonus forfeiture clause.

 

[Rob0729]

Again, the issue is not the presence of a morals clause; that is standard boilerplate language. The question is if there is a bonus forfeiture clause.

But what Rappaport is talking about wasn't a bonus forfeiture clause either. All the clause he talked about is that he would lose any guaranteed money going forward (and only if he is cut since they would have to pay him that $2.5 million if they keep him on the roster past the payout date unless they renegotiated his contract again). The missing games clause would not have allowed the Pats to go after the signing bonus already paid. It would only turn all guaranteed money going forward to non-guaranteed money.

We are talking $2.5 million potentially lost in new guaranteed money not already paid. The only way the Pats could get back the unamortized bonus money already paid is through the morals clause even if they had the clause Rappaport said they did not have.

The $2.5 million guaranteed is nothing to what they already paid him in a bonus. And if they are able to recover the amortized bonus money through the morals clause, they won't have to pay him the $2.5 million in guarantees either.

And BTW, according to Over the Cap, if the Pats cut Hernandez under the personal contract policy, they would be off the hook for that money too:

Salary guarantees protect a player from skill, injury, or salary cap termination. They don’t protect a player for release due to personal conduct.

That means Rappaport's article is useless.

 

[PP2]

Like that article states, I think it more probable that Hernandez will be "suspended," not just to recover his pay, but also to continue to retain his rights (e.g., prevent another team from retaining it) in the rare event that he somehow finds his way back into the NFL after all this is concluded.