Things that make you go hmmmmmmm……….Salary Cap Edition
WARNING: Salary Cap Related……profound boredom might overcome you.
Over the first two years as the Colts GM, Chris Ballard structured his veteran contracts in a very specific way. His structure delivered all of a contracts guaranteed money in the first year or two of the contract with no negative cap hit in later years. All contracts paid a level amount or a decreasing amount as the contact ran (i.e. no “ballooning” contracts with big pay outs at the end no one expects the team to honor). Examples of this are: Jonathan Hankins, 3-year, $27.000m, $9.0m average per year, $10.5m guaranteed in year one (salary + roster bonus) with nothing guaranteed in year two or beyond. Jabaal Sheard, 3-year, $25.500m, $8.5m average per year, $9.5m guaranteed in year one (salary + roster bonus) and $3.25m of his year two salary guaranteed with zero money guaranteed in year three. Eric Ebron, 2-year, $13.000m, $6.5m average per year, $6.25m guaranteed in year one (salary + roster bonus) with nothing guaranteed in year two. Jack Doyle, 3-year, $18.900m, $6.3m average per year, $7.5m guaranteed in year one (salary + roster bonus) with nothing guaranteed in year two or beyond. Denico Autry, 3-year, $17.800m, $5.9m average per year, $6.5m guaranteed in year one (salary + roster bonus) with nothing guaranteed in year two or beyond. John Simon, 3-year, $13.500m, $4.5m average per year, $5.5m guaranteed in year one (salary + roster bonus) with nothing guaranteed in year two or beyond. In the first two years with Ballard as GM, almost all the contracts (except for Sheard) followed the exact same pattern; no signing bonus (spread out over the life of the contract) but instead guaranteed first year salaries and guaranteed first year roster bonuses. The same pattern. So, why am I bringing this up? Mark Glowinski. 3-year contract $16.200m total worth (smaller than expected since it was reported as an $18m contract) Signing Bonus = $4.200m (this is the first veteran signing bonus on a multi-year contract Ballard has done as Colts GM) Average Cap Hit = $5.400m per year Year One = $1.500m salary, $1.400m pro rated signing bonus hit, $500k roster bonus = $3.400m cap hit Year Two = $4.250m salary, $1.400m pro rated signing bonus hit, $500k roster bonus = $6.150m cap hit Year Three = $4.750m salary, $1.400m pro rated signing bonus hit, $500k roster bonus = $6.650m cap hit Some Questions: A) Why a super low salary for year one? A team typically only does this when they need to save cap space in that year, not when they have more than $110m to spend. B) Why a signing bonus that is now pro-rated across the life of the contract? Why not continue to pay roster bonuses that will not impact future years? The only reason I can think of is that the player needed the money NOW and not in early March (when the new season starts and roster bonus can be paid). C) Why does he choose now to “balloon” a contract when he did not choose to do so earlier? Sure, it is a small contract and the balloon is tiny (in relation to the size of the cap) but it breaks a pattern Ballard has established. Not a huge disturbance in the Force but I have zero idea with as much cap space as we have why he broke pattern to give both a signing bonus instead of a roster bonus and to balloon the contract between years one and two to save money in 2019. It makes little sense to me. Walk Worthy, |
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I wonder if Glowinski and play center behind Boehm in a pinch. |
In a way also, it fits with one of ballard's stated goals, that staying so far under the cap is for the purpose of paying our own veterans. Glow definitely proved his worth and didn't demand stupid money.
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Does this amount to a better short term deal for the player? If so, is it a sign of loyalty and a way to reward a player already on the team in order to encourage a certain...smoothness in future negotiations with on-roster players? Other than Doyle, none of those others were already Colts, right?
IDK, you tell me. |
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3-year, $16.4m total Year One = $4.2m guaranteed roster bonus, $1.3m salary = $5.5m cap hit Year Two = $5.45m non-guaranteed salary (zero dead money) Year Three = $5.45m non-guaranteed salary (zero dead money) Same amount of guaranteed money, same money out of pocket for Irsay, same total dollar amount but structured in a way that matches what he did in the past. I just don't see a reason for him to break his pattern. Walk Worthy, |
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If you have zero dead money in the later years of a contract, there is nothing holding a team to keeping you from hitting the open market by cutting you. Most NFL players will bet on themselves 100% of the time. I still don't see it. Walk Worthy, |
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Interesting observation and breakdown, but I think you're reading too much into it. The contract structure Ballard has used previously was not sustainable if he wanted to compete for any of the more sought after free agents, so he was going to have to deviate from it regardless.
We can all guess why Glowinski's structure is slightly different from the earlier ones (maybe Glowinski wanted the money right away for some reason, as you suggested), but unlike the other free agents he is a free agent-to-be - meaning that he had a bit more leverage that the other free agents and could ask for something more tailored to his needs. Ultimately, though, the contract isn't all that different in substance - it's still basically a one-year deal for $5.7 guaranteed and two option years. Whether that $5.7 is absorbed this upcoming year, or over the next three isn't that significant in my view. |
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