Explanation of Hardy's contract

[NetsGotBanned21]

I know a lot of people are wondering how his money won't count against the cap this year, or that he has a 750k base with no guaranteed money, but has a cap hit of 3.2M but a max of 13.1M so what is the true value of the deal and how does it affect the cap this year. Well here is the explanation of it.

When you have a contract like this that is incentive heavy, your current years cap number is based on "likely to achieve merits", meaning did Tht's player accomplish this goal last season, and if he didn't, then it is unlikely to achieve therefore it is not counted against the cap immediately.

For instance, last season Hardy played in 2 NFL season game (was active on 53 man roster) and went through the entire NFL offseason, so it is likely he will do the same this season as well since he did so last year.

Since his base is 750k and each game he is on 53 man roster is 578,125, and he was on 53 man roster two games last year it is likely he will do the same this year "an achievable merit" so that's 750k plus about 1.15M equals about 1.9M. So you also have take the preason into consideration and if he worked out last season last season with Carolina and the answer is yes, so his workout bonus is no listed as an "attainable merit" and counts against this years cap which is an additional 1.3M which when added to the above mentioned 1.9M equals your 2015 cap hit of 3.2M.

So you ask what happens if lets say Hardy makes an additional 8M through games played and sacks, how does that affect the cap this year? Easy answer is it doesn't. What happens the total of all incentives Hardy earns this season will hit after week 17. Which means that Dallas can pay Hardy's cap hit one of two ways. First and most ideal would be if Dallas has extra space from the season, carry over cap, Dallas could then use that money to absorb the negative number Hardy then applies to the cap. The second manner is if Dallas has no carry over, then it would be immediately applied to the 2016 cap and would be subtracted from any cap space you have going into 2016.

There is one other possible way, and that would be if Dallas resigns Hardy, you could then spread that cap number across the new contract for up to five seasons. Eventually it'll count against the cap, but just know the only number that will count against the cap this year at most will be 3.2M. I hope this helps and is simpe enough to follow for those whom were not understanding of the contract. Remember NFL cap is very complex so I tried to simplify this as best I could.

 

[Manster7588]

So in short if Dallas has the cap space to absorb the whole contract in 2015 they can or they can push some of the money into 2016. I guess jarntt is right. We don't know what his cap hit is.

 

[NetsGotBanned21]

So in short if Dallas has the cap space to absorb the whole contract in 2015 they can or they can push some of the money into 2016. I guess jarntt is right. We don't know what his cap hit is.

Correct, his hit can be as low as 750k or as high as 13.1M lol, but the most it'll count on the 15' cap will be 3.2M unless Dallas has carry over on their cap after week 17

 

[jarntt]

I remember hearing about the previous year as compared to the idea of doing it before in any year. But, my understanding was that it wasn't that black and white and the League made the decision or at least approved the contract as the club wanted it. If it were teams could really use that as a loophole to abuse the rule, like we kind of are doing in this scenario. Plus, I think it can even go to an arbitrator if I'm not mistaken.

As far as going against the rollover from 2015 or the 2016 cap...it's really the same thing

 

[jarntt]

regardless of the cap aspect, I love the structure for us. It really protects us and it also fairly allows him to get a big pay day if he plays all year and produces...the only thing I wanted that we didn't get was a club option for the next year or two like Melton had even if it was for big dollars. We could always just not exercise it...

 

[PDay8810]

"The Cowboys will be able to absorb Hardy's cap hit this year, but in order to do so they will have to restructure Tony Romo's contract. The Cowboys planned on doing it all along, but only a small chunk of the deal. Now they will likely have to re-work $16 million of Romo's $17 million base salary, which will take away cap dollars in 2016-19. In more ways than one Hardy had better pay off for the Cowboys."

 

[jarntt]

"The Cowboys will be able to absorb Hardy's cap hit this year, but in order to do so they will have to restructure Tony Romo's contract. The Cowboys planned on doing it all along, but only a small chunk of the deal. Now they will likely have to re-work $16 million of Romo's $17 million base salary, which will take away cap dollars in 2016-19. In more ways than one Hardy had better pay off for the Cowboys."

Ughh...doesn't sound like a $3.2M cap hit in 2015 to me...

 

[fastforward]

...There is one other possible way, and that would be if Dallas resigns Hardy, you could then spread that cap number across the new contract for up to five seasons...

The rest of your post is excellent but i'm not sure about this. As far as I know only signing/restructure bonuses can be calculated over the length, (max 5 years), of a future contract. I don't know of any previous instance of NLTBE bonuses being delayed beyond 1 year for cap purposes. If it were possible logically teams would try to sign FAs to minimum contracts with NLTBE bonuses that were guaranteed to succeed - so they could split the NLTBE amount over years 2-6 in cap terms.

 

[PDay8810]

"The Cowboys have only so many ways to be creative with the salary cap after signing Hardy. According to ESPN Stats & Information, they have roughly $1.98 million in cap room after the Hardy deal.

They can create room by restructuring Tony Romo's contract, reaching a long-term deal with Dez Bryant, or by either cutting Carr or getting him to agree to a pay cut. The easiest road right now is Romo's deal."

 

[Manster7588]

Ughh...doesn't sound like a $3.2M cap hit in 2015 to me...

This is the reason I think you're right in saying we don't know what his cap hit is. Sounds toe like his whole ONE year deal counts against the cap.

 

[Manster7588]

"The Cowboys have only so many ways to be creative with the salary cap after signing Hardy. According to ESPN Stats & Information, they have roughly $1.98 million in cap room after the Hardy deal.

They can create room by restructuring Tony Romo's contract, reaching a long-term deal with Dez Bryant, or by either cutting Carr or getting him to agree to a pay cut. The easiest road right now is Romo's deal."

I see Catr getting the same talk Doug Free got a few years ago.

 

[PDay8810]

I see Catr getting the same talk Doug Free got a few years ago.

Me too....I'd like option 1 or 2 before Romo redo
and if a Romo redo....the smaller amount the better

 

[UK Cowboy]

Cowboys have confirmed they are redoing Romo

 

[jarntt]

From the NFL board:

Greg Hardy Contract Details, Salary Cap Charges, Bonus Money | Over The Cap

Greg Hardy signed a one year contract with the Dallas Cowboys on March 18, 2015. The contract carries a base value of 11,311,600. Hardy can earn up to $9.25 million in 53 man active roster bonuses. Because Hardy only had two games in 2014 on the 53 man roster the cap count is just 2/16 of that number. The bonus will increase weekly against the cap for each week he is on the active roster. Another $1.8044 million is available in incentives. If earned it would make the total contract value equivalent to the franchise tag figure Hardy played on in 2014.