AsylumGuido

How the NFL's 30 percent rule for 2020 could impact the Saints



The New Orleans Saints are used to getting creative in their efforts to work around the NFL salary cap, often backloading contracts and relying on crafty salary cap structure to max out their resources every year. However, there’s a chance that one of their favorite tricks won’t be available in the 2020 offseason, unless the league and the NFL Players Association are able to settle on a new collective bargaining agreement.

As recently pointed out by ESPN’s Dan Graziano, “Article 13, Section 7 of the CBA mandates that ‘no player contract extending into a season beyond the Final League Year may provide for an annual increase in salary … of more than 30 percent of the salary provided for in the Final League Year, per year, either in the season after the Final League Year or in any subsequent season covered by the Player Contract.’”

In translation: teams are not allowed to sign players to contracts with a raise of more than 30% in 2020 during subsequent years, though this doesn’t include prorated signing bonuses. According to Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald, this is designed to stop teams from taking an unfair advantage of a potentially uncapped season.

Here’s an example: let’s say that a Saints player is under contract for 2020 on a $1 million base salary, with no other bonuses on the books. If the Saints were to sign that player to a contract extension, the most they could raise his total salary to in 2021 would be $1.3 million. They could still prorate payments (and remain under the cap) with a big signing bonus, but those can only be handed out when ownership has the funds on hand, in cash. For smaller franchises like the Saints, there could be a limit to just how far they can stretch themselves in a year with this added rule in play.

The Saints have circumvented the salary cap in the past with tactics outlawed by this rule; in 2014, they signed safety Jairus Byrd to a six-year, $52.5 million contract that featured an initial salary of just $1.3 million. That figure climbed to $2 million in 2015 and $7.4 million in 2016, climbs of 153% and 569% over the first-year base salary. Strapped for cash again in 2020, the Saints would normally be expected to use this strategy again, but that won’t be an option under the current CBA. Fortunately, it’s not a new development. General manager Mickey Loomis and his staff, headed by salary cap specialist Khai Hartley, have been planning for this.

If a new CBA is not ratified before free agency begins in March, the Saints will face an uphill battle to fit contract extensions (and pay raises) for pending free agents like Vonn Bell and David Onyemata on their books. They also could struggle to work out new deals with players who could benefit from re-signing ahead of schedule, like Alvin Kamara, Larry Warford, and Demario Davis.

However, there’s good news: NFL owners voted to approve the terms of a new CBA on Thursday, which precedes a vote by the NFLPA as soon as Friday. There’s no guarantee that the players will accept these terms right away, but teams are certainly counting on it. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Friday that multiple NFL franchises are poised to make roster moves should the new CBA be approved, which would void this 30% rule. Few teams have more pending free agents than the Saints, so it’s logical to think they may be in that group ready to make changes as soon as they’re given the green light of a ratified agreement.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

AsylumGuido

Interesting article. It give a little more insight into the workings of contracts and cap management. I sure hope they get this CBA ironed out soon. The player reps are meeting on the proposals today.

Rugby Saint II

Dammit! If the Saints find an advantage and do things creatively then Roger Godhell is going to take it away. If the Patriots or Cowboys benefitted like this would it be an issue?

Tom Benson turned this team around while making the Saints a Super bowl winner and respected organization. Rita Benson will keep this organization classy while she's in charge. Of that I have no doubt. Our front office is set up and structured well and we have a chance to be one of those legacy teams respected by opposing fans.

Our mistake? We beat the beloved Payton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts while stealing their Super bowl. How dare we? And with a trick play to start the second half? Who has the balls to do that? Sean Payton....and Godhell didn't like it.

What followed was an all out witch hunt and McCarthyism at it's finest(or worst) the following season. The NFL tried to demonize New Orleans to the public and then tried to dismantle the organization with everything in their witch doctors bag. Many of these over reaches were determined to be illegal. Judges don't generally agree with Roger Godhell or other dictators.

vpheughan

Watch it!!! Ker-Blam, Ca-Plunk or Sa-Something similar, will be on here with a 6,000 word edict on how "ALL ACROSS THE NFL THE SAINTS FANS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR WHINING!!!!