Franchising a Player Rules

[John W.]

I think everybody's got to expect the unexpected and have flexibility in mind. If we try to maintain the realism about our GM jobs based in NFL rules, then our rules here could be vastly different next year if the NFL comes to a new agreement that is vastly different also.
...

I agree that things are volatile in the NFL right now but that shouldn't void our existing rules. Next season if the Franchise tag is removed we should vote on that then. Until then we should follow our current accepted and posted rules.

[Jared A]

I'd agree... if we're going to enforce the rule, then we need to do it. Starting right now.

Don't make an example out of me. If everyone wants to enforce a rule, why can't we do it right now? It's not like there's a vote that needs to take place. Every franchised player can't sign for less than 120% of last year's salary.

[Jared A]

Also... we need to be able to front load contracts.

I look at this offer as just that. Since I have a ton of money this year, I should have the ability to sign front heavy contracts.... and that was my view of the Eli offer.

[Jared A]

I also want to point out that the following deals are much more detrimental to the functionality of the league than the Eli deal...


Logan Mankins making 18mil a year for 7 years.... 35mil guaranteed
James Harrison making 22mil a year for 6 years... 30mil guaranteed... nearly double what the most expensive LB in the NFL makes.

[yaddleme]

Logan Mankins making 18mil a year for 7 years.... 35mil guaranteed

In defence of the contract I signed him at.
He is 28 years old and been in the league for 4 years.
He has been a solid player on the OL for NE
HE was a transistion tagged player, so the original offer has to be better then the tag itself.
If he gives me 5 good years before declining (will be 33 then) the contract is worth it.
I will even take 4 good years and it still will not put a strain on my budget.
After 5 years the contract could be cut and it will actually save money on the total payroll.
His contract after 5 years could be restructured saving the team from cap hell. (always options)
The year before I had 18 picks in the draft and have a relatively young team.
The contract is not as damaging to my team as one would first think.

Remember this years draft may be the last time we sign rookies to large contracts when they never played a down in the NFL. (long overdue). This helps in future budgeting your payroll to reflect draft picks cost.

How someone else views this deal for future deals is out of my control. Everyone needs to view their deals on a case by case basis.

[Jared A]

i agree yaddle... and honestly don't mind the contracts.


but, I'm just pointing out that this deal isn't out there on it's own when it comes to big contracts.


It all comes down to budgeting... and I'm just not a believer in taking one deal and disecting it. And, then enforcing rules that have never been enforced.

I'll quit with this arguement... if we use the real NFL to determine franchise values, then wouldn't the minimum 120% raise also need to come from the NFL?

And, we really need the ability to front load deals, so that a team can control their salary caps a little better.

[John W.]

I'd agree... if we're going to enforce the rule, then we need to do it. Starting right now.

Don't make an example out of me. If everyone wants to enforce a rule, why can't we do it right now? It's not like there's a vote that needs to take place. Every franchised player can't sign for less than 120% of last year's salary.

I agree with you and didn't think anyone was trying to make an example out you. It was just an obvious contract where the 120% rule would come into play. I did some research on Franchise and Transition players based on who I could find in the BORT report for the AFFL (only league I am in) and happy to report that all players have received more than 120%

Tag - Player - 2009 Salary - 120% of 2009 - 2010 Salary - 2010 SB
franchise - Bulluck, Keith - 7,500,000 - 9,000,000 - 9,680,000 - 0
franchise - Evans, Lee - 1,236,250 - 1,483,500 - 9,521,000 - 0
franchise - Jones, Donnie - 435,000 - 522,000 - 2,814,000 - 0
franchise - Jones-Drew, Maurice - 530,000 - 636,000 - 8,156,000 - 0
franchise - Marshall, Brandon - 530,000 - 636,000 - 9,521,000 - 0
franchise - Miller, Heath - 800,000 - 960,000 - 5,908,000 - 0
franchise - Nick Collins - 545,000 - 654,000 - 4,850,000 - 35,000,000
franchise - Ryans, DeMeco - 530,000 - 636,000 - 9,680,000 - 0
franchise - Tatupu, Lofa - 550,000 - 660,000 - 9,680,000 - 0
franchise - Ware, DeMarcus - 1,005,000 - 1,206,000 - 9,680,000 - 0
franchise - Webster, Corey - 545,000 - 654,000 - 9,566,000 - 0
franchise - Wilfork, Vince - 800,000 - 960,000 - 7,003,000 - 0
franchise - Winfield, Antoine - 6,000,000 - 7,200,000 - 9,566,000 - 0
transition - Adrian Wilson - 4,750,000 - 5,700,000 - 7,000,000 - 20,000,000
transition - Andrew Whitworth - 530,000 - 636,000 - 7,500,000 - 7,500,000
transition - Antoine Bethea - 530,000 - 636,000 - 5,300,000 - 5,000,000
transition - Ben Roethlisberger - 1,707,000 - 2,048,400 - 11,000,000 - 35,000,000
transition - Bob Sanders - 545,000 - 654,000 - 8,500,000 - 10,000,000
transition - Bobbie Williams - 2,400,000 - 2,880,000 - 10,000,000 - 0
transition - Braylon Edwards - 1,242,250 - 1,490,700 - 8,660,000 - 6,000,000
transition - Chris Snee - 720,000 - 864,000 - 7,000,000 - 35,000,000
transition - Dallas Clark - 545,000 - 654,000 - 9,000,000 - 5,000,000
transition - Derrick Burgess - 3,500,000 - 4,200,000 - 8,373,000 - 0
transition - Elvis Dumervil - 530,000 - 636,000 - 7,350,000 - 21,000,000
transition - Faine, Jeff - 1,026,246 - 1,231,495 - 9,142,000 - 0
transition - Leonard Davis - 2,600,000 - 3,120,000 - 7,500,000 - 4,000,000
transition - Logan Mankins - 700,000 - 840,000 - 13,000,000 - 35,000,000
transition - Marcus McNeill - 530,000 - 636,000 - 8,000,000 - 28,000,000
transition - Miles Austin - 2,198,000 - 2,637,600 - 7,000,000 - 20,000,000
transition - Owen Daniels - 530,000 - 636,000 - 6,500,000 - 8,000,000
transition - Peko, Domata - 530,000 - 636,000 - 6,353,000 - 0
transition - Richard Seymour - 3,685,000 - 4,422,000 - 5,000,000 - 16,000,000
transition - Roddy White - 780,000 - 936,000 - 7,000,000 - 1,500,000
transition - Shawne Merriman - 1,422,000 - 1,706,400 - 7,000,000 - 15,000,000
transition - Will Smith - 1,045,000 - 1,254,000 - 11,600,000 - 3,000,000

[Jared A]

John,

While, I'd like to look back over the past few seasons, and would wager that the 120% rule has been overlooked before, it doesn't change the fact that I should be allowed to allocate front loaded money this year and pay Eli less following years.

Also, we take our franchising numbers from the REAL NFL... so, I'd also argue that Eli's contract only needs to be 120% of his existing real life contract.

[Ulrich82]

Maybe this deserves its own thread, but I'll add it here for now since it was mentioned in the previous posts.

Why should we be allowed to front load contracts? If I am wrong, I will withdraw my argument, but I am not aware of a precedent of this in the NFL. I understand that this would be a useful tool for teams with lots of cap space this year, but NFL players aren't likely to sign frontloaded contracts. For example, suppose a contract was proposed where a player was payed $2 mil in the first year, and then $1 mil a year for the next 3 years. Why would the player sign this deal? From his perspective, why is he worth less to the club in the second year of the deal than the first? The only reason I could see a player going for this is if you say, well it gives him more up front money, but that is the point of the signing bonus.

The only other argument I can see for front loaded deals is that sometimes players are asked to take pay cuts. This still isn't the same as a front loaded contract because no one expects to have the pay cut come up when the initial contract is signed. The pay cuts usually come because a player's skills have deteriorated or his team views him as replaceable. No one signs a contract expecting to make less in the later years.

Teams often backload deals because they plan to cut or renegotiate with a player before he ever reaches the extremely lucrative final years of the contract. The backloaded years are mainly a way for agents to promote what a great job they did and for players to feel good about their total contract. Most of these deals never actually play out. Anyway, since this is a real thing in the NFL, I understand why we have that ability in contract negotiation.

[sportznut]

No matter how you slice it, a one year deal isn't a front loaded deal anyways.

Just my .02