Here ya go, this is a cap 101 lesson for you. I'm feeling rather giving today so here it is. A cap expert...............a guy that actually did it in the NFL gives you the how to simple guide to cap management.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/02/26/nfl-salary-cap-explained
I will even highlight a few of the more important items relating to good cap management and poor cap management. Enjoy!!!
What's the best way to manage the cap?
How, then, do teams avoid the need for cap conversions that constrain their future? It is easier said than done, but the answer is
simple: Do not prorate.
For example, say a team and player agree on a $10 million cash spend in the first year of a contract. With optimal cap management, the team would not use a signing bonus but rather pay the $10 million in monies not subject to proration (salary, roster bonus, etc.) This would contain the cap cost, giving the deal a clean cap–no remaining charges—if things ever went south with the player.
This pay-as-you-go strategy—with cash and cap aligned—puts teams ahead of the curve.
The hard part, of course, is for teams to be in position to operate this way.
It requires discipline that must be supported by all layers of the organization. Once there, though, paying as you go creates desired flexibility for the present and future. Cap will become secondary, instead of primary, for decision making; the flexibility will be there.
Which teams are able to do this? The teams with players’ cap numbers very close to their cash numbers.
The teams not making noise in cap management with conversions and restructures these next two weeks. The teams with clean caps
and no need for the credit card spending.
(Wow, where have you head this before?)
It is now, in these dark days of winter, when teams set a course in
cap and contract management that can affect them, negatively or positively, for years to come.
Here is another great part for you. And look, then even mention the Cowboys directly.
I get it; teams want to go for it in their window of time, but only one team wins every year and it often leads to a vicious cycle. Short-term gain leads to long-term pain; deals that are cap friendly now are often cap unfriendly later. Players with numerous cap restructures, such as Fitzgerald and Ben Roethlisberger, might leave behind tens of millions of cap charges, limiting the teams’ future ability to compete.
The reality in the business of football is very few long-term contracts last to completion. The team terminates most contracts with years remaining. And when they do, all remaining cap charges accelerate. These dead money charges have drastically affected teams like the Raiders and Commanders, and teams like the Steelers, Panthers and Cowboys will soon feel the effects as well.
