Aqua
Practice Squad
Just so every one is on the same page Miami is trying to give Zach a contract extension which will keep him in South Florida probably for the rest of his career and which will lower his cap number for the '03 season.
As I stated a month ago, Zach already has a contract and he won't be a free agent until next year. It's entirely possible that he doesn't want to be locked into Miami long-term and he might want to test the market especially if he doesn't feel like Miami will be a Super Bowl contender any time soon. It's certainly in his right to honor his contract and test the market next year if he is under the impression Miami want him to sign long-term for way under market value.
Now there is a huge difference between contract extension and a restructure. Brookings just signed a contract with a $10.5M bonus. If Miami gives Zach an extension with a $10.5M bonus that number is way under market value. Zach is due a base of $4.7M this year so if he waits until next year and gets the $10.5M he makes $15.2M. If he takes the $10.5M this year his base goes to the minimum of $655K which cost Zach nearly $4M in real dollars.
The difficult thing is we need him to extend to get us some manuever room under the cap. If he doesn't then any plans this off-season are shot, short of cutting Zach and immediately freeing up $4.7M.
As Miami fans we need to pray something gets workout as it will have major implication on this off-season.
As I stated a month ago, Zach already has a contract and he won't be a free agent until next year. It's entirely possible that he doesn't want to be locked into Miami long-term and he might want to test the market especially if he doesn't feel like Miami will be a Super Bowl contender any time soon. It's certainly in his right to honor his contract and test the market next year if he is under the impression Miami want him to sign long-term for way under market value.
Now there is a huge difference between contract extension and a restructure. Brookings just signed a contract with a $10.5M bonus. If Miami gives Zach an extension with a $10.5M bonus that number is way under market value. Zach is due a base of $4.7M this year so if he waits until next year and gets the $10.5M he makes $15.2M. If he takes the $10.5M this year his base goes to the minimum of $655K which cost Zach nearly $4M in real dollars.
The difficult thing is we need him to extend to get us some manuever room under the cap. If he doesn't then any plans this off-season are shot, short of cutting Zach and immediately freeing up $4.7M.
As Miami fans we need to pray something gets workout as it will have major implication on this off-season.
