This is a big reason some on this board don't think we have enough cap space to do anything.
Thiis, and look at Mando saying that RT, Clay and Odrick will cost the team $30-36M in 2015 if we sign them. That's nonsense, as it will very likely be around $10M.
Some, including yourself, do not think that Clay is worth $6M a year. That's fine but, it depends on the deal. For example- we could sign him to a 4 year $24M deal with $10M guaranteed, give him a $4M signing bonus which pro-rates to $1M a year on our cap and a guaranteed $2M salary for 2015. He banks $6M and our cap hit is $3M.
Then, in year 2, we give him a $6M salary with $4M guaranteed. He banks that and with the other $6M has $12M for 2 years. We take a $7M cap hit and with 2015 a total of $10M for 2 years, and the guaranteed money is paid, with us on the hook for the left over cap hit on his bonus if he is cut or traded.
Years 3 and 4 could be for $4M and $8M. He's not going to get anything if he does not perform, and if he does he will be cheap.
Just something off the top of my head to show how contracts actually work. There are so many different ways to work the deals, and the average price does not matter much.
