Teams Can Carry Over Unused Cap Space

For this free agency.

I would spend all of the bonus 20 million on Marrio, then with the original cap, I would resign Steve and bring in a guy like garcon.

…simply by having the owner write a letter to the league within two weeks of the end of the league year citing their intention to do so.

Did this happen? We don’t know yet.
If it didn’t, why not? Did OBD not know the rules of the new CBA? That would be unacceptable.
OR
Did Ralph and Buddy choose not to use this option? Again, unacceptable.

I demand a press conference first thing tomorrow morning Buddy!!!!

Assemble the villagers, break out the pitchforks and torches!! We’re going to the castle to burn the monster!

1) If we roll over 8 million from 2011, and then finish 2012 20 million under the cap, are we able to once more roll over that 8 million that came from 2011 into 2013, or are we only able to roll over the “new” cap money of 12 million into 2013?

2) If we roll over this money from 2011 and spend right up to the new cap, will those contracts be sustainable in the long term (more than, say, 2-3 years down the road) or will this only be effective in the very short term (1-2 years)?

If it’s only very short term, it would make sense to give someone like Mario Williams a giant amount of guaranteed money and a slightly modest yearly average. E.g. a 5-year 60-70 million guaranteed (rather than maybe 50 under normal circumstances) + 30 to 40 over the last 4 years of the contract.

This way, if the roll over only helps us in the short term, we can take a slightly risky move by giving more money upfront and absorb a much bigger cap hit in the short term roll-over year and thus only pay a relatively modest yearly rate that won’t hamstring us cap wise 2-5 years down the road — if I’m using the the theory correctly.

That means a team like Buffalo can do exactly what you said.

- Sign folks like Mario Williams, Stevie Johnson, Vincent Jackson… And front load their contracts for 2012, bringing their 2013-end of contract money down to something the team can afford.

Eg: Williams. If Buffalo wants to sign Williams, to a 8 year, $100 million contract, this 2012 cap dollars, buy themselves, allows Buffalo to pay him ~$13 million. What if they put $10 million of the 2011 cap towards Williams. That would mean his 2012 salary would be $23 million, and the rest of the deal would be 7 years for $77 million, at a very affordable $11 million per year.

Then resign Johnson, at 4/$32. with $9 million from the 2012 cap and $5 million from the 2011 cap. Johnson would get $13 million in 2012, and the rest would be 3 years for $19 million, at a very affordable ~$6.33 million per season.

This cap rule, if Buffalo takes it, could allow Nix to do some great things.

2012 – 3 mill
2013 – 2 mill
2014 – 1.5 mill
2015 – 1.5 mill

A four year, 8 mill contract with 4 guaranteed. He’ll be a happy boy.

I this is true buffalo could theoretically get williams vjax and johnson with money to spare

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/12/minimum-cash-spend-will-be-based-on-unadjusted-cap-numbers/

The jist of it is: If you roll the money forward, you do not have to re-adjust your cap floor spending. It does not increase. That’s a win.

But, you are allowed to exceed the cap based on the money you rolled forward if you want to sign FAs or sign your own dudes long-term. Another win.

So, any team that does not bother to roll it forward are complete buffoons. Because by rolling forward, you can structure contracts you get signed that will save you cap space in later years of contracts.
If that makes sense.

After last years offseason I was pretty pissed that Nix didn’t do more. If they take advantage of this new rule I will now know why they didn’t get more aggressive, and i’ll have a ton of respect for Nix not caving to Fans like me who wanted Poz to stay and more linemen.

Other than two thumbs up. I like that it means we were frugal for a reason, and that it will provide us ammunition to make a jump. I know that he has consistently said they aren’t likely to “make waves” in free agency, but give our overall needs, their quantity, and their nature, to not consider a few key veterans, in key spots (CB, DE/OLB, WR) our team can literally take on a whole new dynamic. This also makes me more optimistic for Steve’s signing, as I am sure we recognize other teams will be willing to pay him. I think maybe, we might be waiting to see what kinds of offers he gets, to decide if he is worth 5-6, ot 9-11. He literally could command almost any amount of money, depending on how other teams look at him. I think he fits nicely, at 8. I think that SD will be looking to re-sign V Jackson for as much as we could offer as well, and so why leave sunny California, and Philip Rivers, for cold winters, and Ryan Fitzpatrick? Only for money, or a change of scenery…

I’m not saying don’t pay him – if anything my point was that with other teams having extra cap as well we NEED to pay him before he hits FA (Or at least tag him). My point was more that a guy like V Jax might be even more expensive when 10 or so teams potentially have boat loads of free cap to spend and he could easily fetch 10 – 12 mill on the open market (VJax) when some teams have excess cap.