Former NFL Executive Breaks Down How Teams Are Beating The Salary Cap

[panthers55]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

We didn't have a problem spending money, look at the cap hell Hurney created. We just had a problem being smart with it.

I have yet to determine if Tepper is willing to spend it. The smoke around all the QB's we have pursued certainly seems to indicate that he is.

Cap hell is what they say to justify not spending money and honestly it isn't that hard to figure out. I never thought Richardson really wanted to build a winner. And at least Tepper has finally brought in a true capologist and a good GM.  It will be interesting to see if Fitterer is allowed to loosen the pursestrings and spend the money.

[Riverboat Ron]

1 hour ago, SCO96 said:

I went to bed a little too late last night and I will admit that  my reasoning is a bit amiss this morning. Can you breakdown your scenario a little bit more. I don't understand the part about the 3rd year having a $5mil guarantee. Wouldn't that be each of the first 3 years be $15 mil?

So basically guaranteed money comes at the same rate as the contract with first two years getting $20 million guaranteed each year and the remaining $5 million in the third year. Leaving no dead/guaranteed money in the fourth and fifth years. Also no ghost years similar to how the Saints had insane dead cap after Brees left.

[Riverboat Ron]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

Neither the players nor owners would want this situation. That's the problem with this solution. 

I know, but it would create much more parity and prevent people like Loomis from making a mockery of the salary cap.

[kungfoodude]

18 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

Cap hell is what they say to justify not spending money and honestly it isn't that hard to figure out. I never thought Richardson really wanted to build a winner. And at least Tepper has finally brought in a true capologist and a good GM.  It will be interesting to see if Fitterer is allowed to loosen the pursestrings and spend the money.

I think the cap trickery is more common now than when Hurney was handing out monster contracts. This is a relatively new thing to see on such a wide scale. Especially the void years.

I think Richardson wanted a winning team and he was close a few times. I think he just never got the right FO people to achieve that vision. 

As for Tepper.....TBD. I like to think he wants to build a winner but his actions have gone almost entirely counter to winning. 

I don't know what to think of Fitterer. I would like to see him actually have real stroke versus being subject to whatever idiot idea Rhule has. I think once we fire Rhule that we might have a clearer idea about Fitterer.

[kungfoodude]

12 minutes ago, Riverboat Ron said:

I know, but it would create much more parity and prevent people like Loomis from making a mockery of the salary cap.

Yeah but I don't actually think the owners really want parity either. 

[thunderraiden]

17 hours ago, TheCasillas said:

 

Tried to explain this to numerous morons on this message board anytime our cap comes up. Thanks for posting this.

[SCO96]

1 hour ago, Riverboat Ron said:

So basically guaranteed money comes at the same rate as the contract with first two years getting $20 million guaranteed each year and the remaining $5 million in the third year. Leaving no dead/guaranteed money in the fourth and fifth years. Also no ghost years similar to how the Saints had insane dead cap after Brees left.

I think I'm starting to get your proposal.

Year ONE: 20 million (guarantee)

Year TWO: 20 million (guarantee)

Year Three: 20 million ($5 guaranteed, 15 million )-----$60 mil received in total...guarantee met.

Year Four: 20 million (non guaranteed)

Year 5: 20 million (non guaranteed)

If the above player was jettisoned after year 3 would any of the remaining salary be considered dead cap space? Or, would the team be able to walk away with no cap implications since the last 40 million wasn't guaranteed?.

You didn't mention anything about a signing bonus. I know that is received upfront an prorated over the life of the deal. Years ago I thought the signing bonus and guaranteed money were the same thing. After seeing the how things contracts are structured on SPOTRAC a couple of seasons ago I realized that they're not.

Look forward to your reply.

Edited June 9, 2022 by SCO96

[Icege]

Excellent listen. I'm going to have to go through it a few times to really digest everything, and that's after already having what I thought was a decent enough grasp of the salary cap to understand some of the little tricks that go on.

With the way that the system currently works, having Tepper as an owner instead of Richardson definitely helps the team should he be willing to cough up the cash in order to stay under the cap.

[TheCasillas]

Continuation... 
 

 

[panthers55]

7 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

I think the cap trickery is more common now than when Hurney was handing out monster contracts. This is a relatively new thing to see on such a wide scale. Especially the void years.

I think Richardson wanted a winning team and he was close a few times. I think he just never got the right FO people to achieve that vision. 

As for Tepper.....TBD. I like to think he wants to build a winner but his actions have gone almost entirely counter to winning. 

I don't know what to think of Fitterer. I would like to see him actually have real stroke versus being subject to whatever idiot idea Rhule has. I think once we fire Rhule that we might have a clearer idea about Fitterer.

I think Fitterer has the major sway with Tepper and was the reason we passed on Watson. If it had been up to Tepper he would have paid anything to get him. Of course that is speculation on my part.

[panthers55]

One thing not said here is that all  owners have access to an NFL guaranteed loan of up to 500 million which they have to use for football purposes. It isn't based on need or ability to.pay it back, it is just there. So honestly as long as folks could repay it back they have millions to throw at the salary cap any time they want to.

[kungfoodude]

5 hours ago, panthers55 said:

I think Fitterer has the major sway with Tepper and was the reason we passed on Watson. If it had been up to Tepper he would have paid anything to get him. Of course that is speculation on my part.

I don't think we passed on Watson, we just balked at the 100% guaranteed contract, which was probably Tepper more than Fitterer, if I had to guess.

You could be right though. We will never know.

[panthers55]

7 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

I don't think we passed on Watson, we just balked at the 100% guaranteed contract, which was probably Tepper more than Fitterer, if I had to guess.

You could be right though. We will never know.

Obviously by refusing the demands to guarantee the last 2 years we chose to move on.  That is called passing on a player. I know it conflicts with your premise that Watson didn't choose us but everything I read said if we would have guaranteed the last 2 years he was coming here. It was the money. Remember Watson wouldn't waive his no trade clause for Cleveland initially, but when we passed, suddenly Cleveland was an option again.  And if you think that Tepper would have  passed on him over money you are in the minority. Tepper paid Rhule a ton and didn't bat an eye. I imagine that it would have taken Fitterer and Suleiman both to talk him out of Watson given our salaries currently.

[top dawg]

I had my wife with her macroeconomics degree explain it to me. 

Basically rich owners can pay cash over the cap this year, and only be on the hook for the remaining balance (prorated from year to year of course) if the team separates from the player before the end of the contract. If you keep said player(s), you can keep kicking the can down the road infinitely (and that doesn't take into account other ways to play around with the cap as long as both parties agree...e.g. performance bonuses). The richest owners can keep kicking the can(s) down the road forever as long as they're willing to deal in cash over cap which is basically manipulation over/around the cap.

Edited June 10, 2022 by top dawg