2018 General Managers Discussion Thread

Think of it this way, TD.

Dead money is like an IOU that teams write to a player where they promised to pay that player (contracturally) but haven't actually given the player the money yet. Earned contractural bonuses that are prorated over the entire length of a contract but not yet paid, turn into dead money if the player is no longer on the roster.

 

Once dead money is on the books I believe it can never go away. Even if the player is brought back onto the roster. If someone has a contract that is about to void (like Brees as I think Lyman is eluding to) you can negotiate that dead cap as part of a technical restructure on the extension, but the dead cap doesn't disappear. The player will only be getting new money on top of that dead cap already charged to them.

 

Okay stay with me....So if I'm done computing every move at Sportrac, and let's just say for instance that these are my numbers;

• Total Available Cap:$188,725,256

• Dead Cap $:$10,696,757

• Offensive Cap $:$70,483,376

• Defensive Cap $:$81,892,967

• Special Teams Cap $:$2,293,456

• Total Team Cap $:$165,366,556

• Cap Space:$23,358,700

• Total Savings:$32,144,576

That cap space figure of $23,358,700 needs to be able to cover the rookie pool + the dead cap figure of $10,725,256?? Correct?

 

Actually the money is given to the player already when they sign. That's why it's a signing bonus. It is just prorated to future years to save cap early. It's more like the team has an IOU to the league for cap space and if they drop the player they need to pay it all up at once.

 

Actually, I wasn't alluding to Brees. All I was saying is that dead money doesn't affect your cap space until the player that the dead money is attached to us no longer on your roster (via, release, trade, retirement, etc.)

The only exception I can think of is Nick Fairley's dead money.

 

Okay. I just wanted to make sure you weren't confused because of that. It's also the case if a player is released and then resigned for cheaper. Dead Cap still counts. It can't be undone.

 

?

 

That too. I forgot about that one.

 

You guys are killing me..lol!

Can somebody directly answer this question from my above post^^^:


That cap space figure of $23,358,700 needs to be able to cover the rookie pool + the dead cap figure of $10,725,256?? Correct?

 

1. Add up those positional caps plus dead cap and you'll see the deadcap there is already included. I don't get the total savings thing. Was that what you did for cutting/restructuring?

I don't think your rookie pool is included in that though.

 

Ok thanks..I don't get that tiotal savings thing either...it was just copied and pasted from Sportrac

 

Thanks Joe...Lmao! Sorry for being an idiot. You are right. I didn't realize all those numbers added up perfectly.

 

This is correct. This happens a lot where a player is cut because their performance doesn't match their pay and then they get re-signed later. It is treated as if it's just an entirely new player. The dead money on the old contract is part of the team's cap. The new contract is it's own entity.

If the contract doesn't ever actually void you don't have dead cap. You are still on the original proration schedule. The simplest thing Brees could do in his current situation is just go to the Saints and agree to remove the void on his deal. Then nothing has to change, he gets his 22M base salary in 2018 and both sides are happy. But he'll never do it. He wants to bleed the Saints one more time while he can. I'm guessing he gets at least another 30M signing bonus.

 

The prorated money on Brees doens't just disappear if he is resigned. It's gotta be factored into an extension. That money was already given to him.

 

The goal of the Saints is to re-structure, not re-sign. I don't see a scenario where the current contract voids and Brees remains a Saint.

 

Just to be clear re-structure and extension would basically be the same thing. They'll probably call it a one-year extension.

 

I mean that Brees has $18M prorated cap remaining and that resigning him doesn't just make that disappear. It can and will likely be played around with but it won't go away just because he stays.

 

As long as they re-sign him to an extension prior to the start of the year it will continue to prorate 6M per season thru '18, '19 and '20. And no they can't play around with it. It's set in stone. As soon as he accepted the 30M signing bonus there were only two possibilities:

1) He would remain under contract and the bonus would prorate 6M in '16, '17, '18, '19 and '20 or...

2) The contract would void and the full 18M remaining would count vs the '18 cap.

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that ERFAs, RFAs, and franchise tagged players are NOT included in our Spotrac spreadsheets. They are listed as free agents. You'll need to adjust your cap space accordingly. Also, the Spotrac spreadsheets don't factor in the Proven Performance Escalator for those players who qualify. We need to do that ourselves.

Short cut version... take that original $23,358,700 figure from Spotrac, subtract all your savings from released / traded / restructured players, add in free agents plus tagged/tendered players, and then add in adjustments for any PPE-eligible guys.

Also, if you're tracking based on top 51 or top 53 contracts, keep in mind that the 52nd or 54th highest contract drop off the list each time you add a new player to the roster.

Then make sure you leave room for the draft pick pool and your future practice squad.

 

Thanks Torg.....Ok..So lets take San Diego for instance...They have one player that qualifies for PPE escalator in OLB Kyle Emanuel. So how do I determine the dollar amount? The chart at Otc just lists his % of snaps...

And when you say I need to adjust my cap space accordingly for ERFA's and RFA's, I'm confused...Can you be a little more specific?