Cutler's contract isn't 7 years for 126 mil

[richig07]

It's 3 years for 54 mil. Could potentially be 7 for 126, but with the guaranteed money front loaded, it's basically a year-to-year option after that. He'll be 33 at that time. Basically, the 7 years just assures that if the team is very successful the next three years, we still have him. If not, we cut him loose for pretty much no cap hit.

The 7/126 figure is EXTREMELY deceiving, and makes the deal appear way bigger than it is in reality. Like I said, 3 years for 54 mil is the number fans should be thinking. 18 mil over the next 3 years.

He's making barely more than Stafford. Less than QB's like Ryan and Flacco. It's what QB's in his tier are paid. People just look at the 126 figure and go; "HOLY SHIT!". Well, it's not about the figure. It's about what a QB like Cutler is worth in today's NFL on an open market. And it's about the guaranteed money.

Here's a bit more on that.

Cutler?s deal is three years, $54 million, with year-to-year option thereafter | ProFootballTalk

 

[anotheridiot]

yeah yeah, as soon as that huge number comes out lets find a way to spin it so it isnt that bad. Its nfl football, we know about cutting players when the guaranteed money runs out. Big number though is first years cap hit is 22.5 million. Thats another 5 million dollar guy we cant get to fix the defense next year.

 

[leomaz]

Sorry. The cap hit is only 18 mil.

 

[anotheridiot]

Sorry. The cap hit is only 18 mil.

dig a little deeper bud, thats the average, not cap hit. The reason they could not extend him during the season was because there was no room in the salary cap for any up front money.

 

[msgkings322]

The professional journos weigh in:

Jay Cutler Gets Paid As His Old Coach Starts Over in Tampa Bay - The Triangle Blog - Grantland

 

[anotheridiot]

Jay Cutler?s Contract Breakdown « CBS Chicago

this is the cap hits, cant get one 5 million dollar guy next season, but we can probably start paying Alshon in 2015.

 

[Jim Rome is Flaming]

Jay Cutler?s Contract Breakdown « CBS Chicago

this is the cap hits, cant get one 5 million dollar guy next season, but we can probably start paying Alshon in 2015.

Assuming the info is legit, I love it.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

Jay Cutler?s Contract Breakdown « CBS Chicago

this is the cap hits, cant get one 5 million dollar guy next season, but we can probably start paying Alshon in 2015.

why can't they sign someone for $5 million next year? There's still something like 25 million under the cap and that's before any cuts/restructures (like Peppers).

 

[anotheridiot]

why can't they sign someone for $5 million next year? There's still something like 25 million under the cap and that's before any cuts/restructures (like Peppers).

All I am saying is simple math, since his cap hit is 22.5, not the 17.5 or 18 that everyone is saying, his hit will not allow the bears to sign one guy for those 5 million dollars next year. It has nothing to do with the total they have left to spend to get to the 128 million. They are gonna sign plenty more people, but when its said and done, next year its one guy we might be missing. The good side is after next year, then the cap hit goes down 9 million so it opens up money at that time, either for Alshon or real upgrades if the draft keeps failing..

This is a hell of alot better structure than most of the other quarterbacks are getting, so it is a very well thought out deal for the bears since they decided to invest in this quarterback.

This is romos cap hit for his contract

2013: $1.5 million base salary, $11.818 million cap figure
2014: $13.5 million base salary, $21.773 million cap figure
2015: $17 million base salary, $25.273 million cap figure
2016: $8.5 million base salary, $15.135 million cap figure
2017: $14 million base salary, $19 million cap figure
2018: $19.5 million base salary, cap figure
2019: $20.5 million base salary, cap figure

That sucks for two years.

Flaccos deal has him with a 29 million dollar cap hit in 2016. they figure suggs will be gone by then so it wont hurt that bad, but they still gotta replace suggs.

believe it or not, this was a positive post for Emery. His choice of draft picks are questionable, but he did plenty of due diligence with this contract and the link was just finally seeing numbers.

 

[cubzzzfanincali]

oh ok, now I follow you. Yeah, true, next year he costs $5 mil more toward the cap then later.
I think what I like about this deal is that to me the Bears seem a couple years away anyway from being truly elite, so why not soak up the cap space next year and start rebuilding the defense. Cutler's contract is extremely team-friendly last 4 years of his deal so if he is around and producing that long we could be in good shape.

 

[richig07]

yeah yeah, as soon as that huge number comes out lets find a way to spin it so it isnt that bad. Its nfl football, we know about cutting players when the guaranteed money runs out. Big number though is first years cap hit is 22.5 million. Thats another 5 million dollar guy we cant get to fix the defense next year.

Uh... I'm not spinning anything. I simply stated a fact. After three years the Bears can let him go without taking a cap hit. The guaranteed money is front loaded.

What on earth are you talking about?

Yes, 22.5 mil is a big hit the first year, but after that it drops to something like 12 mil.

 

[fastforward]

As richig07 said - it's a 3 year $54M contract. The 2014 cap figure is meaningless because it's front-loaded and it's the 1st year. It doesn't stop the Bears doing anything.

 

[anotheridiot]

oh ok, now I follow you. Yeah, true, next year he costs $5 mil more toward the cap then later.
I think what I like about this deal is that to me the Bears seem a couple years away anyway from being truly elite, so why not soak up the cap space next year and start rebuilding the defense. Cutler's contract is extremely team-friendly last 4 years of his deal so if he is around and producing that long we could be in good shape.

Yeah, thats all I meant, there was nothing negative about it except they will not be able to spend 5 million next year on a guy we might need.

I dont know why the guys that wanted him are getting all pissy about defending the contract when you state a fact and I sure am glad its not the romo or flacco hit.

 

[fastforward]

Yeah, thats all I meant, there was nothing negative about it except they will not be able to spend 5 million next year on a guy we might need.

I dont know why the guys that wanted him are getting all pissy about defending the contract when you state a fact and I sure am glad its not the romo or flacco hit.

They can spend as much money as they want. If they want to spend money they can convert any amount of Cutler's 2014 salary to a bonus. This will spread that amount over 7 years for cap purposes. At this point the Bears are under the 2014 cap so there's no need to count any of the 2014 money as a bonus. The Rams did this a few times with Chris Long's fully guaranteed 2013 salary as and when they needed some space. If the Bears need $6M in 2014 space they'll convert $7M of salary to a bonus of which only $1M will count in 2014.

 

[nebearsfan70]

They can spend as much money as they want. If they want to spend money they can convert any amount of Cutler's 2014 salary to a bonus. This will spread that amount over 7 years for cap purposes. At this point the Bears are under the 2014 cap so there's no need to count any of the 2014 money as a bonus. The Rams did this a few times with Chris Long's fully guaranteed 2013 salary as and when they needed some space. If the Bears need $6M in 2014 space they'll convert $7M of salary to a bonus of which only $1M will count in 2014.

Thanks for the posts. I was struggling a bit with it, but your explanation makes good sense.

Great post.

 

[anotheridiot]

They can spend as much money as they want. If they want to spend money they can convert any amount of Cutler's 2014 salary to a bonus. This will spread that amount over 7 years for cap purposes. At this point the Bears are under the 2014 cap so there's no need to count any of the 2014 money as a bonus. The Rams did this a few times with Chris Long's fully guaranteed 2013 salary as and when they needed some space. If the Bears need $6M in 2014 space they'll convert $7M of salary to a bonus of which only $1M will count in 2014.

So you want to move that 6 million to 2015? move it again and a bit more to 2016? eventually its gonna count towards the cap and we get the flacco deal. They would have resigned him during the season but only had 1.2 million left for the cap so it did not make sense. If they were 10 million under the cap last year they would have signed him to the extension and paid him 10 million of the bonus then. Eventually you gotta pay the piper. Even if they cut him in 2017 that guaranteed money is gonna have to be dealt with.

I am not saying you are wrong or I am right, I just know they purposely started counting all this bonus money against the cap so teams couldnt get around it anymore. They stopped the draft pick 50 million dollar deals because of this. They call that dead money cap hit, here is an article showing how teams are paying for players that are not even there anymore.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/09/05/nfl-salary-cap/2769123/

 

[anotheridiot]

here is the pepper situation.

In Year 4 of a six-year deal worth $84 million, Peppers previously restructured his contract on Feb. 23, 2011, and saved the team approximately $8 million in salary-cap space. At the time, Peppers was due a $10.5 million roster bonus, but the Bears restructured the deal to reduce his cap number from $12 million to $4.3 million. The club converted that $10.5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus to prorate that money over the life of the deal.

The latest move by the Bears provides only temporary relief. With the restructured deal, Peppers’ cap numbers over the final two years of his contract rise. In 2014, Peppers’ cap number grows from $17.183 million to $18.183 million. In 2015, Peppers’ cap number grows to $20.683 million.

all the prorated bonus money will go against the cap those final years. his salary will be taken off when he is cut, but there will still be cap money allocated for peppers when he is cut.

 

[fastforward]

The decision was to sign Cutler to $54M over 3 years or let him go. How they account for the money and over what time period is up to the Bears. The projections are that the cap will rise by about 5% year-on-year after 2014. That puts the cap at $133M in 2015 and $140M in 2016. If you look at the current situation too long the changing situation will pass you by before you realise it. I can remember the cap being around $84M and it wasn't that long ago.

I'm not saying you're wrong about the restructuring of the Peppers contract. The reality is that a considerable number of teams are using this restructuring technique to circumvent the cap. The Rams have already spent $41M+ of the 2014 cap to pay players in 2012 and 2013.

 

[leomaz]

If peppers is cut he will beccounted as 8 million in dead money for 2 consecutive years

 

[blh7068]

I read that he is around 8.3 mil in dead money in 2014 and 3.2 in 2015. Cutting him will still free up almost 10 mil of cap space for 2014 and over 17 mil in 2015.