OverTheCap.com looks at the Panthers' restructures

[neverlosethefeeling]

And they point out some things we may not have been aware of or been considering, which is easy to do given the complicated nature of the cap and contracts.

 

Here's a snippet:

 

I had a request from Rachael to glance over what the Panthers did to maneuver themselves out of cap trouble and get to $12.8 million under the salary cap and what ramifications those moves will have in the future. Primarily the concern here was the restructuring of a number of deals to be cap compliant. So, based on the information I have, which I hope is accurate, here is an overview of what they did and some thoughts on the moves.

Ryan Kalil- the Panthers opened up $3.6 million in cap by converting $4 million of his base salary into a signing bonus and adding a voidable year onto his contact for proration purposes. The move adds $550,000 to Kalil’s top of the market cap charges in each season and will leave the Panthers with an additional $1.8 million in dead money that will hit the cap either when his contract voids in 2017 or whatever year he is cut. The cost to cut him in 2015, the year in which he turns 30, increases by $2.9 million dollars.

Haruki Nakumura- Was set to earn $1.3 million in salary. His restructured deal  reduced his base to $715,000 and included a $65,000 signing bonus and $35,000 workout bonus. In return for the paycut the Panthers agreed to void Nakumura’s contract following the 2013 season. This saved the team $517,500 in 2013 cap space and will only add $32,500 to next years cap. Barring an extension, Nakumura will count for $365,834 in dead money in 2014. The team should be able to find a low cost veteran safety to replace him next season making this a positive cap move.

Greg Olsen-  The restructuring of Olsen’s deal opened up $2.4 million in cap space. To do so the Panthers converted $3 million of base salary into an option bonus and added two voidable seasons for proration purposes. By using the void seasons the Panthers locked themselves into $1.2 million of dead money unless he is extended before 2016. Olsen’s cap will increase by $600,000 in 2014 and 2015.

Jordan Gross- This was a big, and perhaps questionable, move. Gross was set to count for $11.7 million in cap with a base salary of $8.7 million. Gross accepted a paycut from $8.7 to $5.5 million which would have been a reasonable $3.2 million in savings in 2013. However, Carolina freed up a whopping $6.8 million of cap room by adding four voidable years onto the tail end of Gross’ contract to mitigate the effects of a $4.5 million dollar signing bonus.  Had Carolina not made the move Gross’ dead money in 2014 would have only been $2 million. Instead they will take a $5.6 million dollar charge for a player not on the roster. When you factor in the cost of tackle, even in a depressed market, the Panthers stand to have significant cap charges associated with the position next season.

DeAngelo Williams- Williams did not take a paycut in 2013, but did take one for future years, reducing his 2014 and 2015 base salaries from $5.75 and $6.75 million to $1.85 million a season. They also added a $1 million dollar option to the 2015 season for Williams. To give cap relief this season the Panthers again turned to the void clauses, tacking on two additional void seasons for the purposes of prorating a $4 million dollar signing bonus in lieu of $4 million in base salary in 2013. The void year provision saved the Panthers $3.2 million in cap room this year. His 2014 cap figure dropped by $3.2 million as well, but with dead money charges rising from $6.4 to $9.6 million the Panthers essentially guaranteed Williams a spot on the 2014 team, despite the fact that he fell out of favor with the club in 2012.  He will be cut in 2015 due to the option bonus which will leave them with $5.6 million in dead money.

 

 

The article goes on to cover the rest of the players we've restructured this off season and offers a conclusion that isn't as adoring as the ones many of us have reached. Did we miss something?

 

 

Read the full thing here: http://overthecap.com/looking-back-at-the-panthers-restructuring-of-contracts/

 

[fieryprophet]

Depends on if we roll the cap over and the cap growing in future years. If we carry over the cap space then the carryover will mitigate the extra cap burden, and with the new TV money those cap hits will become less important. Furthermore, the new salary floor being put in place will paradoxically put teams with a lot of cap space into a difficult spot as they will be forced to use that space on players they may not necessarily want to to pay so much just to be compliant, and will remove an incentive for players to restructure, whereas dead cap money can be used to reach the salary floor without taking on more expensive players.

[Everfrost]

Counting on roll over and increase cap in 2015

 

[Montie_0123]

This is something I'm really not going to worry about right now because I feel our GM will have this situation under control and have the team where they need to be when the time comes.

[panthers55]

From what I could tell, we turned 19 million in cap space into 9 million  in dead cap space if we cut all those guys.  If they are here next year it will mean we had a good 2013 and we didn't make wholesale changes in coaches, players or schemes. Seems like a good exchange.

[Kurb]

From what I could tell, we turned 19 million in cap space into 9 million in dead cap space if we cut all those guys. If they are here next year it will mean we had a good 2013 and we didn't make wholesale changes in coaches, players or schemes. Seems like a good exchange.

That's how i took it as well

We made a short term major issue and made it a longer term moderate issue.

[Argus Plexus]

Gett Dawg got this bro

[MadHatter]

This was basically what anyone who understands contract restructurings understood.

 

VERY FEW TIMES to players really take pay cuts.  Most restructurings converts money to guaranteed bonuses (which spreads it over the remianing life of the contract) to create a short term benefit.  Many times the total value increases to incent the player to do this.

 

Fans who believe that players typically restructure out of the goodness of their hearts are dillusional.....they do it because it is typically financially advantageous to do so.

[Ricky Spanish]

I still don't get it, but everyone seems to be happy, so I'll just smile and nod...

[CatMan72]

I'm sure Gettleman considered all these things when he restructured these contracts and he has a plan to mitigate them when the time comes, so I'm not concerned at all. Sent from my DROID RAZR using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[2jakefansinva]

Thanks OP..........interesting website.

[nctarheel0619]

This was basically what anyone who understands contract restructurings understood.

 

VERY FEW TIMES to players really take pay cuts.  Most restructurings converts money to guaranteed bonuses (which spreads it over the remianing life of the contract) to create a short term benefit.  Many times the total value increases to incent the player to do this.

 

Fans who believe that players typically restructure out of the goodness of their hearts are dillusional.....they do it because it is typically financially advantageous to do so.

 

This question might be stupid.  But, I don't think any question is stupid.  So, did Beason actually take a pay cut?  Or was it converted into a bonus as well?

[Kurb]

Beason took a pay cut

[Frank Hollywood]

Beason took a pay cut

But further investigation looks like he can earn most of his pay cut back with playing incentives, no?