The Final Eight Plan

[Miguel]

FINAL EIGHT PLAN​

Section 1. Application: The provisions of this Article shall apply only in any League Year during the term of this Agreement in which no Salary Cap is in effect.

Section 2. Top Four Teams: Each of the four Clubs that participated in the NFC and AFC Championship games the Prior League Year shall not be permitted to negotiate and sign any Unrestricted Free Agent to a Player Contract, except: (a) any Unrestricted Free Agent who acquired that status as a result of the NFL waiver system; (b) any Unrestricted Free Agent who was under contract to such Club on the last date of the last League Year of the player’s most recent Player Contract; and (c) any Unrestricted Free Agent signed pursuant to Section 4 below.

Section 3. Next Four Teams: Each of the four playoff Clubs that lost in the immediately preceding playoff games to the four Clubs that participated in the NFC and AFC Championship games the Prior League Year shall not be permitted to negotiate and sign any Unrestricted Free Agent to a Player contract, except: (a) any Unrestricted Free Agent who acquired that status as a result of the NFL waiver system; (b) any Unrestricted Free Agent who was under contract to such Club on the last date of the last League Year of the player’s most recent Player contract; (c) any Unrestricted Free Agent signed pursuant to Section 4 below; and (d) any Unrestricted Free Agent as follows:

(i) One such player for a Player Contract that has a first year Salary of $1,500,000 or more; and

(ii) Any number of such players for a Player Contract that has a first year Salary of no more than $1,000,000 and an annual increase in any future contract years of no more than 30% of the first contract year Salary, not including any amount attributed to any signing bonus. In addition, each such Club and each such player entering into a Player Contract pursuant to this subsection may not renegotiate to increase the amount of Salary to be paid during the term of the Player Contract for a period of one year after the signing date of such contract.

Section 4. Replacement of Free Agents Signed by Other Club: Each of the eight Clubs subject to the provisions of this Article shall be permitted to negotiate and sign one Unrestricted Free Agent to a Player Contract (“New Playerâ€) for each Unrestricted Free Agent who was under contract to such Club on the last date of the prior League Year, who has signed with another Club (“Previous Playerâ€), so long as the Player Contract for the New Player shall have a first year Salary of no more than the first year Salary of the Player Contract signed by the Previous Player with the New

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Club, and an annual increase in any future contract years of no more than 30% of the first contract year Salary, excluding any amounts attributable to any signing bonus. In addition, each such Club and each such player entering into a Player Contract pursuant to this subsection may not renegotiate to increase the amount of Salary to be paid during the term of the Player Contract for a period of one year after the signing date of such contract.

Section 5. Increases: The amounts specified in this Article ($1,500,000 and $1,000,000) shall increase each League Year following the 1993 League Year by the same percentage as the increase in Projected DGR over the prior League Year’s DGR (as defined in Article XXIV (Guaranteed League-wide Salary, Salary Cap & Minimum Team Salary)). Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall the amounts specified in this Article increase if the Projected DGR for the League Year in question is not greater than the highest DGR of any previous League Year.

Section 6. Salary Definition: For purposes of this Article, “Salary†means Paragraph 5 Salary, roster and reporting bonuses, prorata portions of signing bonuses, likely to be earned incentive bonuses, and other payments in compensation for the playing of professional football, as defined in Article XXIV (Guaranteed League-wide Salary, Salary Cap & Minimum Team Salary) below.

Section 7. Trade Limitation: No Club subject to the provisions of this Article may, for one League Year, trade for a player it otherwise would not be permitted to sign as an Unrestricted Free Agent as a result of the provisions in this Article.

* [R]egarding whether Clubs subject to the Final Eight Plan are permitted to negotiate with and sign Transition Players, and Franchise Players who otherwise are permitted to negotiate and sign with other Clubs…Final Eight Plan Clubs are permitted under the CBA to negotiate with and sign such players, since these players are not Unrestricted Free Agents.

*Side Letter 8/4/93
​

* For purposes of the Final Eight Plan provisions, each of the eight teams subject to the provisions of Article IX of the Stipulation and Settlement Agreement and Article XXI of the Collective Bargaining Agreement may, after the later of July 15 or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, in any League Year in which the Final Eight Plan is in effect, sign any Unrestricted Free

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Agent whose team did not make the June 1 Tender or whose team subsequently withdrew that Tender.

*Side Letter 9/21/93: Sec. 20

This comes from the CBA itself.​

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

Great info. Thanks, Miguel.

 

[JoeSixPat]

If I'm reading this correctly, this is a great poison pill - it penalizes the players as well as the team - though I think it penalizes the team more.

They only have so many franchise or transition tags to use and apparently they can't spend freely - it appears they still have to adhere to the 30% rule - which severely limits their ability to retain their own UFAs

Hopefully it never comes to this though