DraftLinksMiguel
02-24-2003, 05:26 PM
There is a thread in which one poster, Rasputin, asked several questions about the cap and which a salary cap guru (Adamjt13) answered.
http://www.kffl.com/communities/forums/Forum1/HTML/005584.html
Not sure if any of the questions apply to the Bills but they may some day.
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I have a lot of questions about how certain scenarios would play out in relation to the salary cap. Some of these I have some idea about but I'm not completely sure. Some may seem trivial but I'm curious. There are some salary cap experts on the board so I'm hoping to get some answers. Thanks in advance.
1. A player signs a 5-year deal with a $5 mil. signing bonus. The deal will void after three years if the player has hit certain incentives and if he's still on the roster on the last day of the Year 3 league year (Feb. 28). So three seasons pass and the player has hit those incentives. After the deal voids, the remaining $2 mil. in pro-rated signing bonus will count against the team's Year 4 cap. How will the cap hit of this $2 mil. be distributed if the team signs the player to a multi-year deal before Feb. 28? How will it be distributed if the team signs the player to a multi-year deal after Feb. 28?
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DonMan is correct. If the contract is extended before it voids, the prorated amounts do not accelerate. His original proration of $1 million per year for the next two years remains in effect. Any new signing bonus prorations from the extension are added to it.
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2. A player signs a 3-year deal with a $3 mil. signing bonus. He has four or more credited seasons. In the middle of Year 2, after the trading deadline, the player is waived by the team. He is immediately claimed on waivers by another team. How is the pro-rated $1 mil. amount for Year 3 then distributed? Does it count on the Year 2 cap or the Year 3 cap?
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DonMan is wrong on this one. The June 2 rule doesn't apply for players who are claimed on waivers. It counts on Year 2. (This happened last season when Jacquez Green was waived in November by Washington and claimed by Detroit.)
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3. A player signs a 3-year deal with a $3 mil. signing bonus and $1 mil. in base salary each year. After two years, the player is suspended for a season for violating the NFL substance abuse policy. After that season, he returns to the team to finish the final year of his contract. What are the player's cap hits for Year 3 (year player is suspended) and Year 4? Is it $1 mil. for each year (Year 3 - signing bonus pro-ration but no base salary, Year 4 - base salary but no signing bonus pro-ration)?
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When a player is suspended, his prorated signing bonuses still count, but his base salary does not. It's $1 million for Year 3 and $1 million for the added Year 4.
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4. A player signs a three-year contract. In Year 3, his base salary jumps to $4 mil. The player tears his ACL in the last game of Year 2 in December. The team is way over the cap and needs to clear space in February. The player is obviously not recovered from his injury. Can the team cut this player just like they would to a healthy player? Do they need to pay an injury settlement or anything?
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The player can be cut, since it would be in the season after his injury. He would be entitled to 50 percent of his salary for Year 3 because of the league's Injury Protection benefit. But that wouldn't count against the team's salary cap since it is a benefit.
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5. A player is in the last year of his contract. The team signs him to a three-year extension. When is the deadline that the team can sign him to this extension and have the signing bonus pro-rated over four years rather than three?
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Anytime before the last game of the season, as long as his salary for that season doesn't increase. If it's after the Monday of the 10th week of the season, any salary increase for that season is treated as a signing bonus for salary cap purposes and is prorated over the new length of the contract (he gets the money that season, though).
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6. A team finishes Year 1 with $3 mil. remaining in cap space. All the LTBE incentives in Year 1 were achieved. There were also $3 mil. in NLTBE incentives that were achieved in Year 1. Will the leftover $3 mil. in Year 1 cap space account for this $3 mil. in NTLBE incentives or are the $3 mil. in incentives automatically applied to the Year 2 cap?
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All NLTBE incentives are applied to that season. Any overruns are applied to the following year's cap. (So, if there had been $4 million in NLTBE's, then the $3 million left over would be used up, and the other $1 million would count against the Year 2 cap.)
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7. A player with four or more credited seasons is on Team A's opening day roster. He is scheduled to earn $680,000 in base salary ($40,000/week). This base salary is guaranteed since he was on the opening day roster. He is waived by the team after Week 10. He has earned $400,000 of the $680,000 in base salary. Team A's cap hit will be $680,000 if he isn't signed by another team the rest of the season, but what if Team B claims the player on waivers and keeps him for the rest of the year? What is the cap hit for each team then? What if the player clears waivers and then is signed by Team B for the rest of the year at the same salary? What if the player clears waivers and then is signed by Team B for the rest of the year at a lower salary?
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If the player is claimed on waivers, Team A is freed from the players base salary. If he's not claimed, they could be obligated to pay the rest of his salary as Termination Pay. That doesn't change even if he's later signed by another team. Team A is still charged for the full salary. The thing is, the player must request Termination Pay, and he can do it only once during his career. So if he has done it before or decides not to, Team A might not be on the hook for the rest of his salary.
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8. A player with four or more credited seasons is on a team's opening day roster and is cut during the season in Year 1. He doesn't sign with another team and collects his entire scheduled base salary as termination pay. What happens if the same thing happens in Year 2? I don't think he can collect his entire scheduled base salary as termination pay again, can he? Does the team in Year 2 only receive a cap hit for the weeks on which the player was on the roster or do they take a hit for his entire scheduled base salary?
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You're correct. He can get Termination Pay only once. So if the team in Year 2 cuts him, they get charged only what they paid him.
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9. A player signs a 3-year deal for base salaries of $1 mil. Year 1, $1.5 mil. in Year 2, and $2 mil. in Year 3. The base salaries for all three years are guaranteed. There is no signing bonus. Does the guaranteeing of the base salaries affect the salary cap distribution of the player's salaries?
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Not unless the salaries are also paid in advance. Any guarantees paid in advance are prorated. If they're simply guaranteed, then they count as any other base salaries would.
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10. A player signs a one-year deal with a $700,000 base salary and $300,000 signing bonus. Before the season, he "retires." The team asks him to return the bonus and he does so. After a year off, he decides to return. The team still holds his rights for one year at the $700,000 base salary. Does the team have to repay the signing bonus?
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Not unless he won't come back without it. Or he could negotiate a new contract with a new bonus. But the team isn't obligated to give it back, unless that was part of the agreement for him to give it back in the first place.
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11. What is the amount usually paid by a team for each individual injury settlement at end of preseason?
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Injury settlements typically pay players for as long as they would have been out with the injury. For example, if a player has a sprained ankle that would have kept him out for two games, he'll usually accept two weeks' salary as an injury settlement. But he doesn't have to accept an injury settlement at all. Then the team can decide either to release him outright and see if he files a grievance (in which case half of his salary would count against the cap) or to put him on injured reserve.
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12. What is the amount of signing bonus usually given to each street free agent, such as the players allocated to NFL Europe?
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If you mean guys signed at this time of year and who get allocated to NFL Europe, they're lucky if they get anything. Maybe $1,000 or $5,000. But a lot of them get nothing. If you have specific players you want to know about, I can tell you what they got.
--AdamJT13
http://www.kffl.com/communities/forums/Forum1/HTML/005584.html
Not sure if any of the questions apply to the Bills but they may some day.
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have a lot of questions about how certain scenarios would play out in relation to the salary cap. Some of these I have some idea about but I'm not completely sure. Some may seem trivial but I'm curious. There are some salary cap experts on the board so I'm hoping to get some answers. Thanks in advance.
1. A player signs a 5-year deal with a $5 mil. signing bonus. The deal will void after three years if the player has hit certain incentives and if he's still on the roster on the last day of the Year 3 league year (Feb. 28). So three seasons pass and the player has hit those incentives. After the deal voids, the remaining $2 mil. in pro-rated signing bonus will count against the team's Year 4 cap. How will the cap hit of this $2 mil. be distributed if the team signs the player to a multi-year deal before Feb. 28? How will it be distributed if the team signs the player to a multi-year deal after Feb. 28?
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DonMan is correct. If the contract is extended before it voids, the prorated amounts do not accelerate. His original proration of $1 million per year for the next two years remains in effect. Any new signing bonus prorations from the extension are added to it.
quote:
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2. A player signs a 3-year deal with a $3 mil. signing bonus. He has four or more credited seasons. In the middle of Year 2, after the trading deadline, the player is waived by the team. He is immediately claimed on waivers by another team. How is the pro-rated $1 mil. amount for Year 3 then distributed? Does it count on the Year 2 cap or the Year 3 cap?
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DonMan is wrong on this one. The June 2 rule doesn't apply for players who are claimed on waivers. It counts on Year 2. (This happened last season when Jacquez Green was waived in November by Washington and claimed by Detroit.)
quote:
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3. A player signs a 3-year deal with a $3 mil. signing bonus and $1 mil. in base salary each year. After two years, the player is suspended for a season for violating the NFL substance abuse policy. After that season, he returns to the team to finish the final year of his contract. What are the player's cap hits for Year 3 (year player is suspended) and Year 4? Is it $1 mil. for each year (Year 3 - signing bonus pro-ration but no base salary, Year 4 - base salary but no signing bonus pro-ration)?
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When a player is suspended, his prorated signing bonuses still count, but his base salary does not. It's $1 million for Year 3 and $1 million for the added Year 4.
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4. A player signs a three-year contract. In Year 3, his base salary jumps to $4 mil. The player tears his ACL in the last game of Year 2 in December. The team is way over the cap and needs to clear space in February. The player is obviously not recovered from his injury. Can the team cut this player just like they would to a healthy player? Do they need to pay an injury settlement or anything?
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The player can be cut, since it would be in the season after his injury. He would be entitled to 50 percent of his salary for Year 3 because of the league's Injury Protection benefit. But that wouldn't count against the team's salary cap since it is a benefit.
quote:
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5. A player is in the last year of his contract. The team signs him to a three-year extension. When is the deadline that the team can sign him to this extension and have the signing bonus pro-rated over four years rather than three?
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Anytime before the last game of the season, as long as his salary for that season doesn't increase. If it's after the Monday of the 10th week of the season, any salary increase for that season is treated as a signing bonus for salary cap purposes and is prorated over the new length of the contract (he gets the money that season, though).
quote:
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6. A team finishes Year 1 with $3 mil. remaining in cap space. All the LTBE incentives in Year 1 were achieved. There were also $3 mil. in NLTBE incentives that were achieved in Year 1. Will the leftover $3 mil. in Year 1 cap space account for this $3 mil. in NTLBE incentives or are the $3 mil. in incentives automatically applied to the Year 2 cap?
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All NLTBE incentives are applied to that season. Any overruns are applied to the following year's cap. (So, if there had been $4 million in NLTBE's, then the $3 million left over would be used up, and the other $1 million would count against the Year 2 cap.)
quote:
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7. A player with four or more credited seasons is on Team A's opening day roster. He is scheduled to earn $680,000 in base salary ($40,000/week). This base salary is guaranteed since he was on the opening day roster. He is waived by the team after Week 10. He has earned $400,000 of the $680,000 in base salary. Team A's cap hit will be $680,000 if he isn't signed by another team the rest of the season, but what if Team B claims the player on waivers and keeps him for the rest of the year? What is the cap hit for each team then? What if the player clears waivers and then is signed by Team B for the rest of the year at the same salary? What if the player clears waivers and then is signed by Team B for the rest of the year at a lower salary?
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If the player is claimed on waivers, Team A is freed from the players base salary. If he's not claimed, they could be obligated to pay the rest of his salary as Termination Pay. That doesn't change even if he's later signed by another team. Team A is still charged for the full salary. The thing is, the player must request Termination Pay, and he can do it only once during his career. So if he has done it before or decides not to, Team A might not be on the hook for the rest of his salary.
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8. A player with four or more credited seasons is on a team's opening day roster and is cut during the season in Year 1. He doesn't sign with another team and collects his entire scheduled base salary as termination pay. What happens if the same thing happens in Year 2? I don't think he can collect his entire scheduled base salary as termination pay again, can he? Does the team in Year 2 only receive a cap hit for the weeks on which the player was on the roster or do they take a hit for his entire scheduled base salary?
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You're correct. He can get Termination Pay only once. So if the team in Year 2 cuts him, they get charged only what they paid him.
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9. A player signs a 3-year deal for base salaries of $1 mil. Year 1, $1.5 mil. in Year 2, and $2 mil. in Year 3. The base salaries for all three years are guaranteed. There is no signing bonus. Does the guaranteeing of the base salaries affect the salary cap distribution of the player's salaries?
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Not unless the salaries are also paid in advance. Any guarantees paid in advance are prorated. If they're simply guaranteed, then they count as any other base salaries would.
quote:
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10. A player signs a one-year deal with a $700,000 base salary and $300,000 signing bonus. Before the season, he "retires." The team asks him to return the bonus and he does so. After a year off, he decides to return. The team still holds his rights for one year at the $700,000 base salary. Does the team have to repay the signing bonus?
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Not unless he won't come back without it. Or he could negotiate a new contract with a new bonus. But the team isn't obligated to give it back, unless that was part of the agreement for him to give it back in the first place.
quote:
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11. What is the amount usually paid by a team for each individual injury settlement at end of preseason?
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Injury settlements typically pay players for as long as they would have been out with the injury. For example, if a player has a sprained ankle that would have kept him out for two games, he'll usually accept two weeks' salary as an injury settlement. But he doesn't have to accept an injury settlement at all. Then the team can decide either to release him outright and see if he files a grievance (in which case half of his salary would count against the cap) or to put him on injured reserve.
quote:
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12. What is the amount of signing bonus usually given to each street free agent, such as the players allocated to NFL Europe?
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If you mean guys signed at this time of year and who get allocated to NFL Europe, they're lucky if they get anything. Maybe $1,000 or $5,000. But a lot of them get nothing. If you have specific players you want to know about, I can tell you what they got.
--AdamJT13