BennyVW
I'm the Man in the Box
A lot of thought has been going around recently concerning the signing of Free agents. As this is the dead part of the season its normal, but what will not be normal is when march 3rd comes around very few players will be signed.
Everyone has heard about the CBA, and some are split on whether we should have a cap or not...I'm not trying to get into that. What i will try to tell you is the reality of how hard it will be to sign anybody....
If the CBA is not extended then all NFL clubs must abide by these rules until an agreement is met...
1. Signing bonuses can only be spread over 4 years . Now this may seem minor, but think about it for a second. Before if a player signed a 6 year deal with 15 mil guaranteed then the Signing bonus would count 2.5 mil a year. 2.5 plus his salary would make the cap number. But if you tried to do the same contract now the SB will be spread over the first 4 years. Meaning 3.75 mil a year. Then 3.75 plus the salry is the cap number. The end result is that the same contract eats up an extra 1.25 million dollars a year...That means your team cant use that money to get another player....
2. Incentives are guaranteed Before there were 2 types of incentives. Likely to be earned, and unlikely to be earned. LTBE incentives count against the cap for the current year, at the end of the year if they are not met the club receives extra cap room in the amount of the incentive. NLTBE incentives do not count against the cap unless they are triggered.... At least thats how it used to be... Now all incentives are guaranteed and are part of the players cap number. So that 6 year 15 mill contract had a million dollar superbowl incentive. It is considered nltbe casue the Fins were not in the SB. So now that 1 mil will count on that cap number bringing it up to 4.75 million, plus the players salary....
Wow...this sucks...well it gets worse.
3. 30% rule Contracts must abide by the 30% increase rule. Formerly it just applied to salaries..but now all guaranteed money is included...like incentives, and bonuses...Thus you cant put big bonuses in contracts cause they will increase the value more than 30% from one year to the next...Will ths ever end....Nope!
4. No June 1st rule Previously if you cut a vet their contract "accelerates" and you are charged what is left from their signing bonus. Previously you could help yourself by cutting them after june 1st. Then you had the option of spreading the bonus over 2 years instead of 1. This gave teams that extra room they needed to finish off all their contracts....Well that rule no longer applies....All signing bonuses will now be accelerated to the current year with no exceptions...
So its hard enough to sign somebody, but now you cant cut people to afford them....WHEN WILL IT END!!!!
5. 2 FA seasons? Players and clubs will become hesitant because of all these new rules. If a player signs early its possible that if the CBA gets extended they will lose a lot of money cause all these restrictions will no longer apply. Players who wait could gamble and really cash in later. Especially cause a New cba will raise the caps for all teams an additional 5-8 million above the projection of 92 mil...meaning a 15 mil cap increase from last year!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Thus: Very few big names will sign until the new CBA is put into effect, or signs show that it will not be extended...
Wow..Ok you can breathe now...Just try to forget that signing a player will incur almost double the cap charge and you will be fine.... Oh no!!! i still remember!
TAGS!!! GENE!!! HURRY UP ALREADY!!!!!
__________________
Everyone has heard about the CBA, and some are split on whether we should have a cap or not...I'm not trying to get into that. What i will try to tell you is the reality of how hard it will be to sign anybody....
If the CBA is not extended then all NFL clubs must abide by these rules until an agreement is met...
1. Signing bonuses can only be spread over 4 years . Now this may seem minor, but think about it for a second. Before if a player signed a 6 year deal with 15 mil guaranteed then the Signing bonus would count 2.5 mil a year. 2.5 plus his salary would make the cap number. But if you tried to do the same contract now the SB will be spread over the first 4 years. Meaning 3.75 mil a year. Then 3.75 plus the salry is the cap number. The end result is that the same contract eats up an extra 1.25 million dollars a year...That means your team cant use that money to get another player....
2. Incentives are guaranteed Before there were 2 types of incentives. Likely to be earned, and unlikely to be earned. LTBE incentives count against the cap for the current year, at the end of the year if they are not met the club receives extra cap room in the amount of the incentive. NLTBE incentives do not count against the cap unless they are triggered.... At least thats how it used to be... Now all incentives are guaranteed and are part of the players cap number. So that 6 year 15 mill contract had a million dollar superbowl incentive. It is considered nltbe casue the Fins were not in the SB. So now that 1 mil will count on that cap number bringing it up to 4.75 million, plus the players salary....
Wow...this sucks...well it gets worse.
3. 30% rule Contracts must abide by the 30% increase rule. Formerly it just applied to salaries..but now all guaranteed money is included...like incentives, and bonuses...Thus you cant put big bonuses in contracts cause they will increase the value more than 30% from one year to the next...Will ths ever end....Nope!
4. No June 1st rule Previously if you cut a vet their contract "accelerates" and you are charged what is left from their signing bonus. Previously you could help yourself by cutting them after june 1st. Then you had the option of spreading the bonus over 2 years instead of 1. This gave teams that extra room they needed to finish off all their contracts....Well that rule no longer applies....All signing bonuses will now be accelerated to the current year with no exceptions...
So its hard enough to sign somebody, but now you cant cut people to afford them....WHEN WILL IT END!!!!
5. 2 FA seasons? Players and clubs will become hesitant because of all these new rules. If a player signs early its possible that if the CBA gets extended they will lose a lot of money cause all these restrictions will no longer apply. Players who wait could gamble and really cash in later. Especially cause a New cba will raise the caps for all teams an additional 5-8 million above the projection of 92 mil...meaning a 15 mil cap increase from last year!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Thus: Very few big names will sign until the new CBA is put into effect, or signs show that it will not be extended...
Wow..Ok you can breathe now...Just try to forget that signing a player will incur almost double the cap charge and you will be fine.... Oh no!!! i still remember!
TAGS!!! GENE!!! HURRY UP ALREADY!!!!!
__________________
