KiLaSix9+ 398 Posted August 4, 2011 Although it seems like it’s been an eternity, it really wasn’t all that long ago that I wondered if the Buccaneers and Panthers, who opened the free-agency period among the league leaders in cap space, would “front load’’ contracts. That’s the term for putting money at the front of a contract to take an early salary-cap hit as opposed to spreading the impact out as much as possible. Now that I’ve seen most of the early contracts, it turns out the Bucs are front loading and the Panthers are not. Carolina simply is spending money left and right, keeping its own free agents and bringing in others. The Panthers are doing a lot of it by using big signing bonuses. They gave $30 million to Charles Johnson and $20 million to Jon Beason. Those bonuses are pro-rated over the course of the contract for salary-cap calculations. The Bucs are taking a different approach. Let’s take a look at the deals they did to keep two of their own key free agents. With guard Davin Joseph, the Bucs decided to take a big cap hit early on and not worry about spreading it out with a signing bonus. The Bucs didn’t give Joseph a signing bonus on his seven-year, $52 million contract. Instead, they put a ton of money right up at the front of Joseph’s contract. They gave him a $9.5 million base salary for this year and the same for next year. Both years are fully guaranteed. After that, Joseph’s base salary drops to $6 million in 2013 and stays the same in 2014. It rises to $7 million in 2015 and stays the same in 2016. In 2017, Joseph’s schedule salary is $7.5 million. The Bucs took a similar tact when they brought back linebacker Quincy Black. He didn’t get a signing bonus either, but he got a big first-year salary. Black will earn $6 million this year and his salary drops to $5.5 million for each of the following four years. Link: http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/42850/bucs-are-front-loading-contracts Good or bad strategy? It clears up cap space for the future which will give us flexibility but someone made a good point in one of the comments. If we gave these guys this much upfront, whos to say they dont hold out or ask for more in the 3rd year? Then we'd have paid them big checks twice or have to deal with their crap later on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Milla4Prez63 678 Posted August 4, 2011 I'm not sure any of these guys will have much of a leg to stand on in a holdout down the line. Maybe Joseph if he returns to his Pro Bowl days. But if he plays like he did last year, he could be a candidate to be cut in the future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shotgun 442 Posted August 4, 2011 It's a decent point by the commenter but I don't see the players holding out later on. They don't have nearly as much leverage with the new hold-out rules and if they are getting paid big bucks that's something they agreed to. Regardless of how the money is payed out, they are big contracts. I personally think it's a great strategy. We should lock some guys up now and pay up because we'll have to give a huge contract to Freeman and likely Mike Williams, Kellen, possibly Blount if he keeps it up in a couple seasons, and if Bowers end's up beasting his first 2 seasons he's going to want a much bigger contract. Plus it gives the possibility of being able to grab some great future UFA guys down the line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KiLaSix9+ 398 Posted August 4, 2011 I know they are the future of our team but Freeman, Mike and possibly Blount are going to kill us when its time to give them new deals. Not that I would mind seeing them get paid. It'll be interesting how it all plays out. It's definitely exciting having such a young team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
