DWill cap savings

[AU-panther]

I've seen several questions about how much we are saving by cutting DeAngelo and to be honest it might not be as clear cut as some would have you believe.

 

Here are the numbers you see used by most people (myself included in the past):

 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/carolina-panthers/deangelo-williams/

 

Under his current contract his cap hit for 2015 was going to be $6.33m.  His dead money on his contract is $6.6m.

 

Cutting him before June 1st  would actually cost us 270k in cap space but there would be no dead money left in 2016.

 

Designating him a post June 1st cut would allow us to spread the cap hit over two years, $4.3m in 2015 and $2.3m in 2016.  As you can see that would free up roughly $2m in 2015 but cost us $2.3m in 2016.

 

As you can see we really aren't saving much either way, so this seems to be a move more about creating room for another player.

 

Alternate possibility:

 

If you look closely at his contract you will see that $1m of the $6.6M in dead money listed is actually in the form of an option bonus that is to be paid out in March.  If that money is not fully guaranteed that would change the numbers above.

http://www.spotrac.com/research/nfl/breaking-down-upcoming-salary-guarantees-or-roster-bonuses-by-nfl-team-501/

 

Cutting him before June 1st would actually save us $730k ($6.33m - $5.6m) in 2015 and there would be no dead money left in 2016. 

 

If you look at the total cost of him staying versus being cut the savings are even greater.  As I stated above his cap hit for this year was going to be $6.33m.  2016 was a voidable year that was going to carry a cap charge of $2.27m.   So in reality his cap cost for one year of service in 2015 could have been $8.6m spread out over 2 years.

 

If the option bonus isn't guaranteed then the team is actually saving $3m by cutting him now. ($8.6m-$5.6m) 

 

With these numbers the decision could have been more finically motivated.

 

How the option bonus is handled if he is designated a June 1st cut is a little bit above my pay grade, but this article talks about it some.

http://overthecap.com/panthers-release-rb-deangelo-williams/

[TheSpecial1]

Thank you. Good info

[PandaPancake]

You're saying Gettlemagic knows more than the Huddle?

[London Loves Luke]

You need to post more. I swear you understand the salary cap better then anyone else on here.

[chknwing]

yeah but cutting him now you have to add in an injury settlement as he is still hurt and the NFL doesn't allow cutting an injured player without settlement

[2jakefansinva]

Great job!

 

I still don't fully understand that sh*t and never will.

[Ricky Spanish]

Great job!

 

I still don't fully understand that sh*t and never will.

 

We need an "explain the cap like we're toddlers" thread where someone can explain it to us without using big words and using comparisons to things we understand.

[TheWiz]

The pie... is yours

[sml1950]

Besides having to be medically cleared, Gman will have to wait until the new league year starts in March if he designates DWill to be a post June 1 cut. So get ready for a couple of weeks of DWill posting fatigue.

[jdpanther5]

We cut Steve before a similar option kicked in, so I imagine this was done in advance to save that $1m as well as a $150k workout bonus.

2016 and 2017 were always dummy years, only there to spread the cap hit over a couple more years. His salary was set to void at the end of the upcoming season a la Gross.

Had he played out the year he would've cost $6.33m, then next season his contract would've voided and we would take that final $2.27m hit in 2016.

My hunch is that, like Steve, the bonus isn't guaranteed and is only exercisable if he's still on the roster, so we should be getting out from that one.

That reduces his total dead money to $5.6m, with $4m of it hitting the cap June 1 should he be designated as such. Then the remaining $1.6m would hit in 2016.

[csx]

Williams will have a nearly impossible argument that any current injury will cause him to miss games next season. Any settlement would be pretty insignificant. I suggest reading about injury settlements... how and why they are reached.

http://overthecap.com/what-exactly-are-injury-settlements/

[AU-panther]

We cut Steve before a similar option kicked in, so I imagine this was done in advance to save that $1m as well as a $150k workout bonus.

2016 and 2017 were always dummy years, only there to spread the cap hit over a couple more years. His salary was set to void at the end of the upcoming season a la Gross.

Had he played out the year he would've cost $6.33m, then next season his contract would've voided and we would take that final $2.27m hit in 2016.

My hunch is that, like Steve, the bonus isn't guaranteed and is only exercisable if he's still on the roster, so we should be getting out from that one.

That reduces his total dead money to $5.6m, with $4m of it hitting the cap June 1 should he be designated as such. Then the remaining $1.6m would hit in 2016.

 

This would be my guess also but the overthecap.com article that I linked above makes it sound like we would have to carry part of the option bonus (333k) in 2015 and then receive a discount in 2016 because it wasn't paid.  Either way the numbers would be very close to what you have said.

 

[panthers55]

dead cap money by definition is money you owe under the cap if you cut a player. Isn't dead cap space a combination of all guaranteed monies which accelerate?. From what I can see the 6.6 million in dead cap space comes from 2.4 million which is the remainder of the restructuring bonus ( 800000 x 3 years left), the remaining signing bonus which is 3.2 million for a total of 5.6 million. That leaves 1 million which has to be the option bonus to add up to the 6.6 million meaning it is totally guaranteed. The numbers add up because if he is designated a post June 1 cut then this year the total would be 4.3 million which is The 3.2 signing bonus the 2015 proration of the restructuring bonus which is 800000 and the 2015 proration of the 1000000 option bonus which is 333000 or 4.3 in total. The remainder of the restructuring bonus paid next year would be 1.6 million or (800000 x 2 years) and the remaining 666000 of the option bonus for a total of 2.36 million. So in reality we save little but it allows DeAngelo to find another team and for us to move on and save roughly 2 million this year.

[AU-panther]

dead cap money by definition is money you owe under the cap if you cut a player. Isn't dead cap space a combination of all guaranteed monies which accelerate?. From what I can see the 6.6 million in dead cap space comes from 2.4 million which is the remainder of the restructuring bonus ( 800000 x 3 years left), the remaining signing bonus which is 3.2 million for a total of 5.6 million. That leaves 1 million which has to be the option bonus to add up to the 6.6 million meaning it is totally guaranteed. The numbers add up because if he is designated a post June 1 cut then this year the total would be 4.3 million which is The 3.2 signing bonus the 2015 proration of the restructuring bonus which is 800000 and the 2015 proration of the 1000000 option bonus which is 333000 or 4.3 in total. The remainder of the restructuring bonus paid next year would be 1.6 million or (800000 x 2 years) and the remaining 666000 of the option bonus for a total of 2.36 million. So in reality we save little but it allows DeAngelo to find another team and for us to move on and save roughly 2 million this year.

 

You are correct in that both overthecap.com and spotrac list the $1,000,000 option bonus as part of his dead money.  If this is correct the numbers you are listing are pretty much right.

 

There is a possibility though that the team might not be responsible for the option bonus if DWill is cut before it is due.  In the article that I linked above from overthecap.com the author states this.  If this happens to be true his dead money would be $5.6m.