PatsFanInVa said:
Miguel, I have no idea whether there are those in the FO with this on their minds, but....
if they wanted to save themselves the heartache in the "out" years, could they offer the deal with a roster bonus, not prorate the signing bonus, and basically take the hit for the majority of a 5-year salary right now?
Obviously, it's more likely they're shooting for something bigger than "overall cap management," but it's interesting to know whether that tool works the way I think it does.
PFnV
To answer your question, the Patriots can't pay out the "SALARY" up front. But what the Patriots could do is front-load the contract by lowering the signing bonus and giving Seymour a larger roster bonus, yes.
Regardless of what they do, I believe they are only allowed to amortize the signing bonus for 5 years. So, what the Patriots could do is this:
7 year deal worth 63 million with a 2 tiered signing bonus of 5 million each tier paid out in August of this year and March of next year. They could also add in a 8 million roster bonus this year.
With the minimum salary this year, that would work out to be for 2006:
8 Mill Roster bonus ( the 3 mill he's currently supposed to get and then another 5 from the new deal)
2.394 Mill remaining amortization
606K salary
1 million in new SB Amortization
Total - 12 million. (Difference is about 4.6 million against his current number)
In 2007:
1 Million SB Amortization
1 Million NEW SB Amortization
5 million in salary and incentives
Total Cap hit - 7 Million
In 2008:
2 Million in SB Amortization
9 Million in salary and incentives
Total cap hit - 11 million
In 2009:
2 Million in SB Amortization
9 million Salary and incentives
Total cap hit - 11 million
In 2010:
2 million in SB Amortization
9 million in salary and incentives
Total cap hit - 11 million
in 2011:
1 Million in SB Amortization
8 Million in salary and incentives
Total cap hit - 9 million
in 2012:
No SB amortization
5 mill salary and incentives
Total Cap hit - 5 million
Now, I just threw this together quickly. The amount of "NEW" money in the 1st 3 years is 27.565 million. However, it also gives the Pats some easier outs later in the contract when Seymour is over 30. It also gives the Pats leeway in freeing up money later if they need to.