The NFL Salary Cap is a Giant Shell Game

[CPA_MM]

220 NFL players have contracts = > $10M. If the salary cap was to provide an even playing field, how come the Eagles and Browns can afford eleven players with contracts = > $10M while the Patriots have two players?

Under current cap rules, winning the Super Bowl requires teams to win two games. The salary cap shell game before the season begins and the actual game on the field.

The reason the Eagles and Browns have the most player contracts > = $10M is they use the cap rules to maximize lowering the current salary cap at the expense of a dead cap problem- six or more seasons down the road.

The player cap charge has nothing to do with a player's value or cost. The player contract determines the cap charge for the season. A real example is a player who signed a one-year $14M contract with the entire amount guaranteed. The cap charge was $4M. The cap charge could have been $14M had the contract been different.

Jalen Hurts of the Eagles has a contract APY of $43M with a cap charge of $6M. Kendrick Bourne of the Patriots has a contract APY of $5M with a cap charge of $7M. In the salary cap- up is down, and down is up.

The only strategy that makes any sense is the following: If the quarterback can take the team to the Super Bowl, then modify existing player contracts with void years and backloading to create extra cap space. Use this cap space to acquire more high-priced player contracts backloaded and having void years. The dead cap problem can be delayed six seasons or more. The Eagle starting lineup player contracts have almost $300M of cap assigned to void years (See Jalen Hurts contract- $98M alone).

Winners of the 2023 salary cap shell game starting the season:
the Bills have player contracts of $289 APY, the Browns $287, and the Eagles $277 (Through 10/30 - 14W - 6L).

Losers of the salary cap shell game-
The Rams are lowest at player contracts worth $182M, followed by the Patriots at $184M and the Bears at $187 (7 wins- 15 losses).

If you are OK with artificially manipulated contracts to gain a competitive advantage over other clubs - then the current system is the system for you.

 

[Triumph]

All that matters is winning the Super Bowl.

The Browns are not winning it this year and the Patriots aren't either.

 

[XLIX]

There absolutely is a lot of creative accounting that goes into the salary cap, but everyone plays under the same rules so no one has any right to complain.

There is also a lot of ignorance amongst the fandom regarding how it works. For example, you mention Jalen Hurts' contract. His big contract is actually a 5 year extension of his rookie deal, so his 2023 number is still operating off his rookie contract. Contrast that to DeShaun Watson whose contract with Cleveland was an all-new deal. That's why his cap number each of the next 3 years will be $64 million... and yes, while Cleveland can restructure salary into bonus, that only kicks the dead money can down the road.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

There absolutely is a lot of creative accounting that goes into the salary cap, but everyone plays under the same rules so no one has any right to complain.

There is also a lot of ignorance amongst the fandom regarding how it works. For example, you mention Jalen Hurts' contract. His big contract is actually a 5 year extension of his rookie deal, so his 2023 number is still operating off his rookie contract. Contrast that to DeShaun Watson whose contract with Cleveland was an all-new deal. That's why his cap number each of the next 3 years will be $64 million... and yes, while Cleveland can restructure salary into bonus, that only kicks the dead money can down the road.

The Rams are referenced as the lowest spenders, but that’s because they are in the “pay later” phase of their cap maneuvering. The way the Eagles are doing it will allow them to stretch the rubber band a few years before it comes snapping back, as it is with the Rams. The other two teams cited, Patriots and Bears, have among the most cap space next season. A lot of this has to do with free agency frenzy cycles, backloading big deals in 2021, rookie QB, and not spending on their own players (at least not yet.). The NFL cap equality between teams is more of a 3-5 year thing as there can be variance each year depending on what teams are dealing with.

 

[mgteich]

If you are OK with artificially manipulated contracts to gain a competitive advantage over other clubs - then the current system is the system for you.

There is nothing artificial about the salary cap. It is what it is. And, it has been negotiated with the players. Every team chooses how much compensation to move into the future. The patriots CHOOSE to push forward less than almost any team, perhaps any team. We have occasionally used some of the so called artificial tools. I believe that we have used void years at least three times in the last 3 years.
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And BTW, how has using this strategy worked for the Browns.

Often what happens is that a team has 2-3 good years and 5+ bad years. Some owners, and some fan bases find this result acceptable. Most recently, the Rams used this strategy well.

 

[mgteich]

220 NFL players have contracts = > $10M. If the salary cap was to provide an even playing field, how come the Eagles and Browns can afford eleven players with contracts = > $10M while the Patriots have two players?

Over the years, the patriots have chosen NOT to have a strategy where they a lot of high AAV players. The team prefers to use the cap more on $3M-$7M players, rather than loading up on $10M plus AAV players.