Why are there guaranteed contracts?

[basel90]

who started this "Guaranteed Contract " BS buisness? . It is ruining many teams and destroys the cap when these players tank or get hurt . Not to mention how lackadaisical most of the players become once they have 50-100 million guaranteed in the pocket. Cowboys have had their share indeed.
I would think a GM / Coach would have much more leverage with short term contracts with no guarantees.

I wonder if the successful franchises avoid such contracts. Not sure if there was any analysis or correlation on this.

 

[JJHLH1]

Successful franchises are very selective as to who they give second contracts too, particularly with big guaranteed money.

New England is a great example. Of course they let Brady walk and are reaping the consequences of that blunder.

Franchise QBs should always be resigned at the earliest possible time.

Running backs should never get a second contract.

Jerry does just the opposite.

 

[Jake]

who started this "Guaranteed Contract " BS buisness? . It is ruining many teams and destroys the cap when these players tank or get hurt . Not to mention how lackadaisical most of the players become once they have 50-100 million guaranteed in the pocket. Cowboys have had their share indeed.
I would think a GM / Coach would have much more leverage with short term contracts with no guarantees.

I wonder if the successful franchises avoid such contracts. Not sure if there was any analysis or correlation on this.

In Major League Baseball every contract is guaranteed.

It's not the contract that's the problem. It's the knuckleheads giving them to the wrong players.

 

[G2]

Every contract should be performance based. Period.

 

[ItzKelz]

I think all contracts were guaranteed until Jerry created the salary cap

 

[KLJ]

I think all contracts were guaranteed until Jerry created the salary cap

lol. what?

 

[OmerV]

who started this "Guaranteed Contract " BS buisness? . It is ruining many teams and destroys the cap when these players tank or get hurt . Not to mention how lackadaisical most of the players become once they have 50-100 million guaranteed in the pocket. Cowboys have had their share indeed.
I would think a GM / Coach would have much more leverage with short term contracts with no guarantees.

I wonder if the successful franchises avoid such contracts. Not sure if there was any analysis or correlation on this.

Short term contracts with no guarantees work both ways though - they don't just allow the team to renegotiate more frequently, they also allow the player to, and in a free market situation where he can offer his services to any NFL team, and the team he played the previous year on would have to compete against the rest of the NFL if it wants to keep that player. That actually gives the player leverage.

 

[CouchCoach]

There really is only one NFL guaranteed contract, Cousins 3 x 28M, and there were plenty of owners pissed at that. They prefer to only guarantee a portion of the contract amount and inflate the contract for bragging rights. The NFL does not want to get into MLB and NBA contracts and they don't want to get into a hard cap.

 

[ItzKelz]

lol. what?

Yea there was no salary cap until Jerry. You think he made the hall of fame because of his good looks?

 

[InTheZone]

Every contract should be performance based. Period.

I agree, but there has to be clear goals that are agreed upon. Team may want something more from their QB, but the QB may be like "but look at mah completions, tops in game...while being check down charlie"

I'm all for incentive based contracts though the cap would have to be removed for this to be possible, especially if a team has a powerhouse team where so many players play beyond the norm for that season. Incentive based contracts could allow every player to earn more than the next guy and you wouldn't have guys holding out or being greedy with their contracts. Play well for that season, you're going to get paid. And it keeps teams from overpaying long term. But the downside is that injuries and removed players would whine about "not having a safety net".

 

[RonnieT24]

Yea there was no salary cap until Jerry. You think he made the hall of fame because of his good looks?

I assume that you were joking when you said all contracts were guaranteed before Jerry then?

 

[ItzKelz]

I assume that you were joking when you said all contracts were guaranteed before Jerry then?

No salary cap. Owners could player what they wanted. I am not joking. Not saying that I am right but Im pretty sure that the whole contracts not guaranteed started after the salary cap.

 

[viman96]

Yea there was no salary cap until Jerry. You think he made the hall of fame because of his good looks?

Jerry was part of the cap being implemented but the majority of the owners had to approve. Many wanted a cap to prevent the big market teams and deep pocket owners from crushing the teams and ruining the competitive balance of the league.

 

[The Natural]

It aint your money so dont worry about it.

 

[ItzKelz]

Jerry was part of the cap being implemented but the majority of the owners had to approve. Many wanted a cap to prevent the big market teams and deep pocket owners from crushing the teams and ruining the competitive balance of the league.

Cap was created to keep money in the owners pocket. It was Jerry's idea as he was more of a rebel back in the day. He sold it to other owners by saying it would make it more competitive. Of course Jerry already had ideas on how to manipulate the cap which is how we could afford Deion.

 

[KLJ]

No salary cap. Owners could player what they wanted. I am not joking. Not saying that I am right but Im pretty sure that the whole contracts not guaranteed started after the salary cap.

you could not be more wrong.. hardly any % of the contract was guaranteed back then.

 

[ItzKelz]

you could not be more wrong.. hardly any % of the contract was guaranteed back then.

I'll have to research it when I get off work. Thanks for giving me something to do tonight.

 

[RonnieT24]

No salary cap. Owners could player what they wanted. I am not joking. Not saying that I am right but Im pretty sure that the whole contracts not guaranteed started after the salary cap.

Well you are wrong my friend.. partially guaranteed contracts did not exist in the NFL until the last decade or so. Nearly all NFL contracts prior to the cap were actually "a series of one year contracts." Nothing was guaranteed beyond the signing bonus. Even the salary was not guaranteed and a team could dump a guy at any point along the way and suffer little to no consequences. Even once the cap was enacted the contracts still were not guaranteed but the bonuses started getting bigger. It has only been very recently, I think the next to last CBA, that players demanded some guaranteed money and got it. As with most things I think a balance is needed. Too much guaranteed money on the wrong guy can ruin a team.. Too little leaves the player exposed. I never want the NFL to go the route of the NBA and MLB because one, the risk of injury is too high in this sport and two, I don't like watching guys get paid to do nothing. I think the NFL has it about right.. Guarantee a piece of the contract but allow teams to get out from under it in a year or two if a guy falls off a cliff for whatever reason.

 

[ItzKelz]

Well you are wrong my friend.. partially guaranteed contracts did not exist in the NFL until the last decade or so. Nearly all NFL contracts prior to the cap were actually "a series of one year contracts." Nothing was guaranteed beyond the signing bonus. Even the salary was not guaranteed and a team could dump a guy at any point along the way and suffer little to no consequences. Even once the cap was enacted the contracts still were not guaranteed but the bonuses started getting bigger. It has only been very recently, I think the next to last CBA, that players demanded some guaranteed money and got it. As with most things I think a balance is needed. Too much guaranteed money on the wrong guy can ruin a team.. Too little leaves the player exposed. I never want the NFL to go the route of the NBA and MLB because one, the risk of injury is too high in this sport and two, I don't like watching guys get paid to do nothing. I think the NFL has it about right.. Guarantee a piece of the contract but allow teams to get out from under it in a year or two if a guy falls off a cliff for whatever reason.

see above

 

[RonnieT24]

Jerry was part of the cap being implemented but the majority of the owners had to approve. Many wanted a cap to prevent the big market teams and deep pocket owners from crushing the teams and ruining the competitive balance of the league.

Yeah it was an easy sell since Jerry and Eddie D. were pretty much pricing the rest of the league out of being able to compete with them. If there was no cap the Cowboys and 49ers would have taken turns winning the Super Bowl for 10 years. Nobody was willing to spend like those two.. even though there were probably richer owners in the league at that time. It would have been fun for Cowboys and 49er fans had things stayed the same but overall I think the league would have suffered if the NFC Championship had become the de facto Super Bowl and there was really no need to watch either the Cowboys or the 49ers dismantle whatever chump the AFC sent to the actual Super Bowl.