Happy Tampering Day

[Luvnit2]

(03-11-2025, 07:14 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: Honestly I'm not sure how the Bengals could afford any high priced FA this year if they plan on re-signing Trey and Chase and Higggins.

Can someone break down the cap and make it make sense?

You can't take a contract signed and assume the cap hit is applied equally over the term of the deal. You also can't use the maximun number as a basis. If. guy signs a 3 year maximum contract at 30 million, it does not mean the cap hit is 10 million year 1, 10 milion year 2 and 10 million year 3. The cap hit is based on the guaranteed cash in the deal. So in the example of 3 years at 30 million, if only 60% is guaranteed at signing, the true number is closer to 18 million for 3 years versus 30 million.

A great place to do research is Spotrac. Go to the site and look up John Jefferson's contract. You would think hs cap hit is 30 to 35 million in year one. It was 8.6 million in 2024 and then went to 15+ million in year 2. This was do to signing bonuses which the tea can choose how to allocate them, they could give a huge bonus and wait until year 2 or 3 to count it against the cap.

We will add cap space if we give Tee a long term contract. In 2025 his tag would cost the team 26.2 milion. But if we trade him, we gain 26.2 million. If we sign him to a 4 year deal, his cap hit in year one will go down to anywhere between 5 to 15 million. So if it is 5 million, we gain 21 in cap space.

Chase also we will gain cap space if he is given a long t erm contract. The Bengals have a ton of cap space in future years, over 230 million in 2026 alone so they cn easily afford to push the cap into later years for Tee and Chase. They can also restructure Joe B. and lower his cap hits. Derrick Carr just did a restructure for the Saints pushing his cap hit to later years.

I am not an expert, but others are. I learn by looking at contracts and calculating how they assign the cap hit.

Check out Jefferson's contract and how they applied the cap hit for a huge contract.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/47616/justin-jefferson

Long post, but complicated ways teams stricture deals to afford players now.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/_/year/2025/sort/cap_maximum_space2

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_total

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/cap/_/year/2025