Four Year Spending Period Due to Expire This Year

[Wes Mantooth]

I hope I worded this thread appropriately. Sorry if it reads poorly. So anyway, remember that 89% minimum that teams had to meet for actual cash spent? It was a four year window, which started in 2013. Well, that period is up at the end of this season.

Also, while the individual minimum is 89%, the league wide minimum is 95%. So for example, say one team hits their minimum of 89%. You would need another team to spend 100%, and another team to spend 96% just to bring that average back up to 95%. Basically, it would take a minimum of two teams to make up the defecit created by one teams lack of spending.

Any money that a team is short of the 89% has to made up by the team, then gets funneled into the NFLPA, and then redistributed back to that respective team's roster. (Say the Jags end up 5 mil under. 5 mil gets split among the Jags players at the player's association's discretion.) Any money that the league is short of the 95% also goes to the NFLPA and is redistributed league wide.

Long story short. You add the actual cash dollars spent by each team from 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. This has to be equal to 89% of the cap over those four years. Do the same for the league, and this has to be at 95%. These are averages, not single year requirements.

Some of you may ask, What's your point, Toast? Why should I care?

Well, I think this may affect some spending this offseason. Any money a team is short is going to paid either way. Either to actual players who can help their team, or to NFLPA. They have no choice but to hit 89%. One way or another, that money is getting spent. And the same goes for the league average. It's coming out of the owners pockets regardless. For these reasons I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up more by the media.

Also, it should be interesting to see the final results. You'll essentially see a number of teams making up the difference for teams that fall under 95%. So I'll be curious to see how that actually looks.

[BengalChris]

Well, I for one didn't know that this was for 4 years only. I remember it going into effect. I was thinking at the time that finally Mikey B will have to stop being such a tight wad.

I believe the Bengals response to the spending requirements was the Model Model philosophy announced in an article of the same name on 12 Mar 2012, which went on to say the team would work on signing its own free agents more and more. Here's a link: http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Model-model/3efe5744-e768-4721-a66d-c2395cfe6f2d

The article was laughed at because the team had failed miserably when it came to signing their own free agents who turned out to be key guys on other teams. Remember Justin Smith, Jonathon Joseph and Eric Steinbach. The Bengals would always say that the other team "overpaid" but really it was the Bengals who were low balling the players. And, there were guys who just wanted away from Mike Brown period and there's a long list of those guys from the 1991 through 2011.

So, are you asking if Mikey B will return to his old ways? I don't think he will cause I don't think he can.

[Wes Mantooth]

(02-27-2016, 02:05 AM)BengalChris Wrote: Well, I for one didn't know that this was for 4 years only. I remember it going into effect. I was thinking at the time that finally Mikey B will have to stop being such a tight wad.

I believe the Bengals response to the spending requirements was the Model Model philosophy announced in an article of the same name on 12 Mar 2012, which went on to say the team would work on signing its own free agents more and more. Here's a link: http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Model-model/3efe5744-e768-4721-a66d-c2395cfe6f2d

The article was laughed at because the team had failed miserably when it came to signing their own free agents who turned out to be key guys on other teams. Remember Justin Smith, Jonathon Joseph and Eric Steinbach. The Bengals would always say that the other team "overpaid" but really it was the Bengals who were low balling the players. And, there were guys who just wanted away from Mike Brown period and there's a long list of those guys from the 1991 through 2011.

So, are you asking if Mikey B will return to his old ways? I don't think he will cause I don't think he can.

I think a new period begins, but I'm not sure whether it's 4 years again or if it's up for change.

It makes sense that it's done in windows though.  You can't do in individual years, because it isn't fair penalize teams for a year in which there's turnover.  And you can't go too much longer than four years either, because a number of the players that should be due money that went unspent would likely be out of the league.

[BengalChris]

(02-27-2016, 02:30 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I think a new period begins, but I'm not sure whether it's 4 years again or if it's up for change.

It makes sense that it's done in windows though.  You can't do in individual years, because it isn't fair penalize teams for a year in which there's turnover.  And you can't go too much longer than four years either, because a number of the players that should be due money that went unspent would likely be out of the league.

What you say makes sense.

[BoomerFan]

I remember this, though I didn't know it ended after 4 years (I hope you're right and another 4 years begins soon). I'm pretty curious as to how the Bengals did. I know we typically have carryover each year, but it hasn't been increasing so maybe we're averaging over the 95% of cap. Maybe even over 97%?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Here's the thing about those numbers. It's total cash spent, not cap space spent per year. So it's kind of misleading.

So for example.. lets look at AJ Green's contract.

In 2015 his base salary was $11.75m, and 1/5th of his $15m signing bonus combined to give him a cap hit of $14.75m in 2015.

That $14.75m cap hit is not how they figure out that 89% and 95% thing, though. Though the cap hits are spread out throughout the contract, the signing bonus is paid all at once. So that $11.75m base salary is combined with the entire $15m signing bonus. [/b]So AJ Green counted as $26.75m in 2015 towards the 89%.[/b]

So look forward to there being large signing bonuses this year since it'll all count for that window, but the cap spending will probably stay the exact same.

- - - - - -
This is very likely why the Dolphins structured Suh's contract as they did. In 2015 and 2016 combined, Suh's total cap hit is $34,700,000... but for the sake of calculating that 89%? His number is $49,500,000. (Not a coincidence so much of the money came in the first two years.) So while the Dolphins carried over a little more than $9m in unspent cap space from last year, it was more than taken up by Suh's signing bonus, so they don't even need to spend that money to meet the minimum.

There's certainly ways to game the system without having to spend all your cap space.

[Wes Mantooth]

(02-27-2016, 10:32 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Here's the thing about those numbers. It's total cash spent, not cap space spent per year. So it's kind of misleading.

So for example.. lets look at AJ Green's contract.

In 2015 his base salary was $11.75m, and 1/5th of his $15m signing bonus combined to give him a cap hit of $14.75m in 2015.

That $14.75m cap hit is not how they figure out that 89% and 95% thing, though. Though the cap hits are spread out throughout the contract, the signing bonus is paid all at once. So that $11.75m base salary is combined with the entire $15m signing bonus. [/b]So AJ Green counted as $26.75m in 2015 towards the 89%.[/b]

So look forward to there being large signing bonuses this year since it'll all count for that window, but the cap spending will probably stay the exact same.

- - - - - -
This is very likely why the Dolphins structured Suh's contract as they did. In 2015 and 2016 combined, Suh's total cap hit is $34,700,000... but for the sake of calculating that 89%? His number is $49,500,000. (Not a coincidence so much of the money came in the first two years.) So while the Dolphins carried over a little more than $9m in unspent cap space from last year, it was more than taken up by Suh's signing bonus, so they don't even need to spend that money to meet the minimum.

There's certainly ways to game the system without having to spend all your cap space.

It will all eventually work itself out.  While, using Suh as an example, means a huge cash value in this period, it will mean a reduced cash value later.  (His cap hit may be 15 mil, but his cash paid out may be 9 mil)

Also, all of our guys who were on the roster in any or all of those four years, who had their signing bonus paid out prior, will have a reduced number vs the actual cap hits for that same period. But you're right.  I was careful to word it as cash spent as this all gets kind of convoluted.

I'm anxious to see what the league wide numbers look like though. I guess we won't know until the close of next season.