2016 RULES: Peak Free Agency Changes

[Goodell]

Is there any way to consider an option to front load a contract? I have plenty of cap space but refuse to give bad contracts just because I have the money. If I had the option to take the hit on all signing bonus in the first year, it would reward the GM that keeps his cap under control.

I think we'll probably work that into things for free agency bids during the off-season. I think it would be too problematic during the season with partial-payments. It's something on my list but wasn't able to get done before free agency this year.

[Ulrich82]

I'm really on the fence about restricting the max signing bonus, so I voted no for now. I think we would have to do it in terms of a percentage if we did.

In the AFFL, I had a ton of cap room and a hole at WR, so I used a giant signing bonus to secure Vincent Jackson (2 year deal with $2,000,000 salary and $18,000,000 signing bonus). Basically, I saw an aging vet who I thought could help me and offered him a practically fully guaranteed short term contract.

On one hand, I don't think there is anything wrong with this behavior. I knew what I was doing and felt I could deal with the risk of him not making it to year 2. On the other hand, while I don't intend this, this deal could make him a potential huge trade chip for me this year since I could trade him to a contender without a lot of cap room and absorb the SB myself. I don't think such moves are in the best interest of the league.

I try not to offer suggestions that add extra complication, but perhaps we should add in another category for "guaranteed salary" which would stick with a traded contract. For example, if we did this and set a rule that SB can't exceed 50% of the total deal value (just making up a number), I would have to offer something like:
2 years, $2,000,000 salary, $5,000,000 yearly guaranteed salary, $7,000,000 SB.

Then, if traded, the 7,000,000 SB would stick with me, but the team acquiring the playing would be on the hook for the annual guaranteed amount. If we don't want to add another category, we could even potentially replace roster bonuses with this, since the veteran guarantee now makes roster bonuses somewhat meaningless.