Westbrook and the money$$$
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cowboyfan4life_mark
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abersonc;1457301 said:
Why?
Westbrook has said that he will return it and still hasn't.
Heck, collect the interest until the final minute.
THUMPER
Papa
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It is very likely that Westbrook, like most smart players, have accountants who handle his investments and finances. The money would have come to them, taxes paid on it, and then it is quickly invested. Most people with that kind of money don't simply leave it in the bank. Also, it would be in diversified investments rather than in a single place.
It would require that he liquidate those investments in order to repay the money. He also would have to file something with the IRS as well as his state and local taxing authority to recover what he has already paid to them on it.
I would not be at all surprised if he can only pay back a portion of the money now and the rest when he actually gets it back from wherever it is.
This is the Eagles' fault, not Westbrook's, so if it takes a while then they have no one to blame but their own front office.
It would require that he liquidate those investments in order to repay the money. He also would have to file something with the IRS as well as his state and local taxing authority to recover what he has already paid to them on it.
I would not be at all surprised if he can only pay back a portion of the money now and the rest when he actually gets it back from wherever it is.
This is the Eagles' fault, not Westbrook's, so if it takes a while then they have no one to blame but their own front office.
AbeBeta
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cowboyfan4life_mark;1457330 said:Why?
Westbrook has said that he will return it and still hasn't.
Heck, collect the interest until the final minute.
Yeah, that's a smart way to run a team. The grievance is likely a formality to establish the paper trail that necessary to deal with such a huge transaction. You know the IRS keeps a very close eye on huge amounts of money moving around. So does Homeland Security. The NFL sure has an interest in why a player would be giving a huge chunk of money back to his team too.
AbeBeta
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THUMPER;1457339 said:
See, now there is a smart post.
Some folks here are acting like he went into the Eagle's office on Friday afternoon, stood in line for his paycheck, and then giggled all the way to the check cashing place when he saw that they had made a huge error in his favor.
THUMPER
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abersonc;1457374 said:
Yeah, we're not talking about a $300 weekly paycheck here but $3 million dollars. Westbrook isn't a rookie who might want to take his first bonus check to the bank and take out a bunch of cash so he can blow it partying with his friends. He is a smart guy who has been around for a number of years and has been injured enough times to know that his career can't last forever. He is going to put as much money away as he can for his future and have someone investing his income so he won't have to be scraping by on $300 a week when he is 40.
AbeBeta
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sbuscha;1457405 said:
First, his accountant is likely not his agent. He or she likely doesn't know the terms of Westbrook's contract intimately (as apparently neither did the Eagles' financial staff). Why would they even suspect an error? Second, most of Westbrook's investments are likely automatic. A certain % to a high risk investments, a certain % to low risk investment, etc.
AbeBeta
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EAGLES TRIPPED ON ROSTER/SIGNING BONUS TERM
We've gotten to the bottom of the problem that resulted in the payment to Eagles running back Brian Westbrook of not one but two $3 million roster bonuses in 2006.
Here's what happened, per a source with knowledge of the situation.
Westbrook's 2005 contract extension contained a $3 million roster bonus payable in early 2006. The contract contained language allowing the team, at its option, to convert the roster bonus to a signing bonus. It's a relatively new cap-management device, aimed at permitting to team to reduce the cap hit arising from the payment in the year the money changes hands. As we understand it, Westbrook's contract was the first deal in which the Eagles used such a term.
Given the way that the contract was written, someone in the finance department accidentally concluded that Westbrook was entitled to both a $3 million roster bonus and a $3 million signing bonus -- not either/or. So Westbrook got two checks for the gross amount of $3 million.
And while it's easy to chide Westbrook for cashing the extra check without asking any questions, we're told that the money doesn't directly go to him. Instead, it passes through his own financial management structure. So he didn't know about it until after the check cleared. (It's still unclear, however, whether he knew about the overpayment before the team raised it with him.)
The Eagles noticed the error as part of an internal year-end reconciliation, and the team promptly reported the situation to the league. At the advice of the league office, the Eagles pursued a grievance because clubs have only 45 days to file a claim or risk losing the ability to do so.
The Eagles had no reason to believe that Westbrook might try to stiff them by claiming that they waited too long to file the grievance. But three million bucks is three million bucks, and the safest course of action for the franchise was to preserve their rights by filing the grievance.
Meanwhile, we're told that a hearing has been set on the grievance for May 2007. But it's likely that no hearing will be held, since Westbrook does not dispute that he was overpaid. The delay in getting the money paid arises from the efforts of the team and the player to figure out whether Westbrook will cut a check for $3 million and pursue reimbursement of the taxes that were withheld (which could be a major pain in the butt for him), or whether he will pay the after-tax amount (roughly $1.7 million) and assign to the team the ability to pursue the tax reimbursement.
Technically, the grievance seeks recovery of $3 million plus interest, but it's our understanding the that Eagles won't squabble about the interest, and that there will be no cap consequence arising from the team's failure to recover reimbursement of the interest generated.
With that said, $3 million at an interest rate of five percent racks up $150,000 per year. Thus, we have a feeling that one or more of the other 31 NFL franchises (or, more specifically, one or more of the other three NFC East teams) might have something to say about this specific wrinkle.
Then again, with the salary cap at $109 million, $150,000 is only 0.137 percent of the total spending limit in 2007.
Per the source, there have been no cap consequences to date for the Eagles resulting from the $3 million overpayment. At worst, they would be slapped with a charge of $3 million in 2007, and the charge would be removed once the money is reimbursed.
Finally, the team is seeking reimbursement not of the $3 million roster bonus, but of the $3 million signing bonus. Thus, the only cap charge that ever would have applied in 2006 is $600,000 (i.e., one-fifth of the bonus payment), and it's our understanding that the Eagles were more than $600,000 below the cap at all times in 2006.
So that's the story. It's not nearly as juicy as we had hoped.
We've gotten to the bottom of the problem that resulted in the payment to Eagles running back Brian Westbrook of not one but two $3 million roster bonuses in 2006.
Here's what happened, per a source with knowledge of the situation.
Westbrook's 2005 contract extension contained a $3 million roster bonus payable in early 2006. The contract contained language allowing the team, at its option, to convert the roster bonus to a signing bonus. It's a relatively new cap-management device, aimed at permitting to team to reduce the cap hit arising from the payment in the year the money changes hands. As we understand it, Westbrook's contract was the first deal in which the Eagles used such a term.
Given the way that the contract was written, someone in the finance department accidentally concluded that Westbrook was entitled to both a $3 million roster bonus and a $3 million signing bonus -- not either/or. So Westbrook got two checks for the gross amount of $3 million.
And while it's easy to chide Westbrook for cashing the extra check without asking any questions, we're told that the money doesn't directly go to him. Instead, it passes through his own financial management structure. So he didn't know about it until after the check cleared. (It's still unclear, however, whether he knew about the overpayment before the team raised it with him.)
The Eagles noticed the error as part of an internal year-end reconciliation, and the team promptly reported the situation to the league. At the advice of the league office, the Eagles pursued a grievance because clubs have only 45 days to file a claim or risk losing the ability to do so.
The Eagles had no reason to believe that Westbrook might try to stiff them by claiming that they waited too long to file the grievance. But three million bucks is three million bucks, and the safest course of action for the franchise was to preserve their rights by filing the grievance.
Meanwhile, we're told that a hearing has been set on the grievance for May 2007. But it's likely that no hearing will be held, since Westbrook does not dispute that he was overpaid. The delay in getting the money paid arises from the efforts of the team and the player to figure out whether Westbrook will cut a check for $3 million and pursue reimbursement of the taxes that were withheld (which could be a major pain in the butt for him), or whether he will pay the after-tax amount (roughly $1.7 million) and assign to the team the ability to pursue the tax reimbursement.
Technically, the grievance seeks recovery of $3 million plus interest, but it's our understanding the that Eagles won't squabble about the interest, and that there will be no cap consequence arising from the team's failure to recover reimbursement of the interest generated.
With that said, $3 million at an interest rate of five percent racks up $150,000 per year. Thus, we have a feeling that one or more of the other 31 NFL franchises (or, more specifically, one or more of the other three NFC East teams) might have something to say about this specific wrinkle.
Then again, with the salary cap at $109 million, $150,000 is only 0.137 percent of the total spending limit in 2007.
Per the source, there have been no cap consequences to date for the Eagles resulting from the $3 million overpayment. At worst, they would be slapped with a charge of $3 million in 2007, and the charge would be removed once the money is reimbursed.
Finally, the team is seeking reimbursement not of the $3 million roster bonus, but of the $3 million signing bonus. Thus, the only cap charge that ever would have applied in 2006 is $600,000 (i.e., one-fifth of the bonus payment), and it's our understanding that the Eagles were more than $600,000 below the cap at all times in 2006.
So that's the story. It's not nearly as juicy as we had hoped.
AbeBeta
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dfense;1458275 said:
And you should admit when you are wrong.
His agent would get a cut of any money coming his way. So his agent a) got paid and b) knew explicitly the terms of his contract. Contrast that to his accountant who likely doesn't have insight into his contact.
Facin'Fools
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either way you look at it i see him getting at least 3 tds against the cowboys..thats a million per td...I've seen worst deals....Vin Baker is still getting payed by the Celtics
CrazyCowboy
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dfense;1457283 said:
He is going to pay it back, his lawyer is figuring out how much is owed minus the taxes Westbrook already paid on the cash.