Signing Bonuses and Other Items Treated as SB's

5:45am EDT

The following terms are common items in a player's contract and include a brief description of the treatment of those items. It is not intended to be an exact interpretation of the treatment of these payments, but to provide a layman's definition as to what these items are and how they are treated for salary cap purposes. For a more detailed description of these items, please refer to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article XXIV, Section 7 - Valuation of Player Contracts for a more detailed description.

Signing Bonuses - Are bonuses paid to a player when he signs a contract. They are guaranteed, paid at the initial signing and are prorated over the life of the contract to a maximum of 6 years.

Other Items Treated as Signing Bonuses - These are bonuses that are paid to a player at a time after the initial signing, but for salary cap purposes are treated just like signing bonuses and are prorated over the remaining life of the contract to a maximum of 6 years.

• Guaranteed Roster Bonuses - Are bonuses for being on a roster at a specific time or being on the active and/or inactive roster on game day, but they are guaranteed to be paid even if the player isn't on the roster at the specified time in the future.
• Guaranteed Reporting Bonuses - Are bonuses paid for reporting to training camp, but they are guaranteed to be paid whether the player shows up to training camp or not.
• Guaranteed Workout Bonuses - Are bonuses paid for participation in the club's off-season workout program, but the club guarantees payment, even if the player doesn't participate in the program.
• Option Bonuses - Are bonuses that are paid at the option of the club, usually in the second and/or third year(s). They used to be prevalent in rookie contracts, as the use of an option bonus was one of the ways that a club could sign a rookie to a large contract that contained a large amount of guaranteed money. When Ashley Lelie failed to show up to training camp and therefore violated his contract, the court ruled that the Denver Broncos could only recover a portion of the original signing bonus and none of the option bonus paid to Lelie. Without the ability to recover damages when a player fails to honor the terms of the contract, teams are now hesitant to pay players large dollar amounts in the form of an option bonus. For salary cap purposes, option bonus payments are prorated over the life of the contract to a maximum of 6 years.
• Salary Advances - These are advances on future years' salaries. To the best of my knowledge, they used to not be a common item in a player's contract, but with the Ashley Lelie ruling (see Option bonuses above), Tom Lewand, the Lions Chief Operating Officer and Chief Contract Negotiator, used Salary advances in Calvin Johnson's contract. This allowed Johnson to get the large amount of guaranteed money due to being a #2 overall draft pick and gave the Lions recourse against Johnson if he doesn't honor his contract. I fully expect salary advances to become more prevalent in rookie contracts, now that teams are hesitant to use option bonuses. Salary advances on future salaries are prorated over the life of the contract to a maximum of 6 years.

Guaranteed Reporting and Guaranteed Workout bonuses are not common. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) addressed the treatment of these guaranteed payments to prevent clubs from manipulating the salary cap.

Two Linebackers Signed and Top 51 Rule

1:05am

Gilbert Gardner - Signed a one-year contract with the Lions on 03/24/08 and is due a base salary of $605,000. No other financial details were disclosed. Gardner signed for the league minimum for players with four credited seasons and his contract likely qualifies for veteran minimum treatment with the NFLPA subsidizing $160,000 of Gardner's contract. He may have received a $40,000 signing bonus, but my guess is that he didn't receive a signing bonus. If he received a $40K signing bonus, his current year cap cost would be $485,000, if he didn't receive a signing bonus, his current year cap cost would be $445,000.

Alfred Fincher - Signed a one-year contract with the Lions on 03/26/08 and is due a base salary of $520,000. No other financial details were disclosed. Fincher has three credited seasons and therefore his contract would not qualify for veteran minimum treatment. He likely did not receive a signing bonus and his current year cap cost would be $520,000.

Top 51 Rule - During the off-season (March 1st until final cuts), only the top 51 player contracts count for salary cap purposes. The Lions currently have 71 players signed for the 2008 season and 20 of those contracts count $445,000 or less. Any contract that the Lions sign for less than $445,000 would not effect the cap. Any contract that is for more than $445,000 would only effect the cap by the amount in excess of $445,000.

Gilbert Gardner's contract did not effect the Lions current cap status as his cost was $445,000. Albert Fincher's contract would cost the Lions $75,000 against the cap. ($520,000-$445,000).

Based on the above transactions, I'd estimate the Lions current cap status at $1M under the cap.

Dewayne White and Offseason Workout Program

5:05pm EDT

Dewayne White

As I've noted in the past couple of blog entries, the Lions are very tight against the cap. They freed up some cap space recently when they renegotiated Dewayne White's contract. When White originally signed on 03/05/07, he received a $10,000,000 signing bonus and his 2008 compensation was scheduled to include a base salary of $2,000,000 and a roster bonus of $1,000,000, payable on the 7th day of the league year. The original contract put his 2008 salary cap cost at $5,000,000

As a part of the restructure, his base salary was reduced from $2,000,000 to $605,000. What likely happened is that the Lion's paid him $1,395,000 bonus to restructure and reduced his base salary to the league minimum, based on his years of service. This is the same type of restructure they did when they restructured Jeff Backus' contract back at the end of September, 2007.

Under the above assumptions, the restructure would save the Lion's $1,046,250 of cap space. White's 2008 Salary cap cost would be reduced to $3,953,750.

• $605,000 (2008 base salary)
• $1,000,000 (Roster bonus paid on 7th day of league year)
• $2,000,000 (Signing bonus proration $10M/5year contract)
• $348,750 (Renegotiation proration $1,395,000/4years remaining)

Non-guaranteed Workout Bonuses - Are bonuses that are payable for participation in the teams offseason workout program, which is a 4 day per week, 14 week program. The minimum workout bonus for any player is $130 per day. Players that receive a workout bonus that is in excess of the league minimum have the amount included in their player's salary cap cost immediately. For players that don't have a workout bonus stipulated in their contract, the entire cost of the program is included in their player's salary cap cost when they start the program. The cost would be $6,720 for any player that begins the workout program at the start (March 17th).

The following players have workout bonuses written into their contracts and their bonuses have already been accounted for:

• 500,000 Edwin Mulitalo
• 250,000 Cory Redding
• 100,000 Roy Williams
• 100,000 Dominic Raiola
• 100,000 Mike Furrey
• 100,000 Chuck Darby
• 75,000 Dan Campbell
• 50,000 Jon Kitna
• 50,000 Jeff Backus
• 50,000 Ernie Sims
• 50,000 Paris Lenon
• 25,000 Shaun Cody
• 20,000 Casey Fitzsimmons

The Lions have 51 other players under contract. For any player that entered the workout program when it began on March 17th, they would be scheduled to receive $6,720 workout bonus for the year. If all players that were eligible to enter the program, did enter the program, the combined cost would be $342,720. Since only the Top 51 player contracts count against the cap, the salary cap cost would be around $200,000.

L. Moore, Stephen Peterman, S. Wilson and D. Orlovsky are Restricted Free Agents and are not allowed to participate in the program until they agree to their tender.

Based on the above, I'd estimate the Lion's current cap status at $1,000,000 under the cap.

2009 Cap Outlook

6:10am EDT

What is the 2009 salary cap amount?

• I have not seen any projections on what the 2009 salary cap amount will be. I do know that the 2008 salary cap figure is based on 57.5% of projected total revenues and that the 2009 cap figure is based on 57.5% of projected total revenues as well. My best guess is that the 2009 salary cap will be under $120M, but that is just an educated guess on my part.

Who's contract will expire?

• The good news is that none of the players with expiring contracts will command a large contract. The following players are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents (UFA) after this season; Jason Hanson, Paris Lenon, Shaun McDonald, Tatum Bell, Shaun Cody, George Foster, Corey Smith, Stephen Peterman, Dan Orlovsky, Stanley Wilson and Langston Moore.
• The Lions would own the rights to the following players that survive final cuts in September; Sean McHugh, Jonathan Scott, Anthony Cannon, Frank Davis, Greg Blue, DeVale Ellis, Ramzee Robinson, Brandon Middleton and Buster Davis. All of these players could be retained relatively cheaply, provided that they remain under contract for the 2008 season.
• Roy Williams - Roy is currently under contract for the 2009 season, but he has the option to void his contract at the end of this season. With a salary of less than $1M, Williams will undoubtedly void his contract if an extension isn't reached first. This year, Larry Fitzgerald signed a 4 year $40M per year contract, Randy Moss signed a 3 year $27M contract, Javon Walker signed a 6 year $54M contract that will pay him $27M in the first 3 years and Bernard Berrien signed a 6 year $42M contract, that will pay him $23M in the first three years. Based on the current market, Williams is likely due a contract that will pay him close to $10M per year. If an extension isn't reached, I'd be extremely surprised if Lions don't place the franchise tag on Williams and retain his rights. The 2009 franchise tag amount for WR's was $7.85M and I'd expect the 2009 amount to be closer to $9M.

Where do the Lions stand in 2009?

• After the initial rush of free agent signings, I show the Lions having 43 players signed in 2009 and $83M of cap commitments for the year. Of those 43 players, 12 include players that are not likely to make the 2008 roster. The release of these 12 players would not result in any dead cap amounts and would result in a savings of about $5M. Realistically, we have about $78M committed to 31 players for 2009 or about $42M under the 2009 cap.

Projected 2008 Cap Status - less than $100,000.

Recent Signings

11:10pm EDT

The Lions have recently signed three free agents. One Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) - Corey Smith and two Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA) - Sean McHugh and Greg Blue. Plus I've estimated Brian Kelly's contract. As I noted in an earlier blog, ERFA's may only sign a one-year contract for the league minimum with the team that has their rights. Their player costs are included in the computation of salary cap status on the date that the tender was issued and the fact that they have now officially signed that tender, does not alter the Lions salary cap status. It also appears that the Lions have revoked the tender that they originally offered LaMarcus Hicks and he is now an UFA and free to negotiate a contract with any team.

Sean McHugh - Signed his one year tender for $605,000. Current year cap cost is $605,000.

Greg Blue - Signed his one year tender for $445,000. Current year cap cost is $445,000.

Corey Smtih - Smith has signed a veteran minimum contract in each of the prior two seasons. This year, however, Smith had received interest from other teams including the Texans, Vikings and Packers and consequently signed a contract for more than the league minimum. He signed a one year contract that includes a base salary of $700,000, while other financial details were not disclosed, I'd estimate that the total contract was for $1M, making his current year cap cost $1M.

Brian Kelly - Kelly signed a 3 year contract that will pay him base salaries of $1.25M (2008), $2.4M (2009) and $2M (2010). Other financial details were not disclosed. Based on the salaries, the fact that he bought out the final year of his contract with Tampa Bay and what he's made in the past. I'd estimate that his signing included a signing bonus of $3M. Based on the above assumptions, Kelly's current year cap cost would be $2.25M.

With the additional cap costs for Corey Smith and Brian Kelly, I'd estimate the current year cap status at less than $100,000 under the cap.

Updated Player Costs

7:00pm EDT

Over the past weekend, I received some really good information on player contracts, Lions current cap status and cap commitments for the future. With the recent signings in free agency, I had to make several educated guesses on some of the monies received by the players. The recently obtained information provides better insight and I can more accurately project the Lions current cap costs. Also, I believe that the Lions are so tight against the cap, that they'll need to cut someone else before they officially sign Tatum bell.

John Kitna - As I reported earlier, Jon had reached an escalator in his contract that bumped his base pay for 2008 from $1.95M to $2.95M. In addition to that, he also reached an escalator that bumped a roster bonus due this year from $500K to $1M plus he has a playing time incentive that based on last years playing time is deemed to be likely-to-be-earned (LTBE) of $1M and is due a workout bonus of $50,000. He originally signed a 4 year contract that included a $3.5M signing bonus. His current year cap cost is $5.875M.

Roy Williams - As I reported earlier, Roy had reached an escalator in his contract that bumped his base pay by $3.15M, from $574,500 to $3,724,500. As a part of that escalator, Roy was due a Roster bonus of $1,110,000. As a result of reaching the probowl in 2006, he's also due a workout bonus of $100,000. During the summer of 2004, Roy originally signed a 6 year contract that is voidable after this season and included a signing bonus of $4.5M. The Lions also exercised two options that at the time of execution, altered the details of the contract. The first option was for $6,662,500 in 2005 and the second option was for $990,000 in 2006, those option bonuses allow for a $971,667 deion credit (I'll explain this in another blog). His current year cap cost is $6,292,833.

Michael Gaines - When I originally reported his cap cost, I classified the entire $3M of guaranteed money as signing bonus money. According to the new information, $2.4M was signing bonus and $600,000 was a roster bonus due this year, plus a $500,000 roster bonus due in 2011. Along with his base pay of $800,000, his corrected current year cap cost is $2,000,000.

Keith Smith - When I had originally estimated his cap cost, I classified the $2M guaranteed as $1.75M signing bonus and a $250K roster bonus. The new information shows that the entire $2M was signing bonus money on his 2 year contract. Therefore, along with Smith's base pay of $1M, his corrected current year cap cost is $2M.

Leigh Bodden - When I last projected his current year cap cost, I estimated that his bonuses to be $1.5M. His bonuses due this year are $500K roster bonus and a $500K likely-to-be-earned playing time and interceptions incentive. He's also due $818,750 in bonuses in 2009. His updated current year cap cost is $2.7M.

Travis Fisher - When I originally estimated his cap cost , I estimated that he was due $1.75M in base salary and $2.5M in signing bonus. He actually received a $2.25M signing bonus and a $250,000 roster bonus to go along with his $1.75M base salary. I correctly assumed that he is also due a $500,000 roster bonus in 2010. His updated current year cap cost is $2.75M.

Chuck Darby - I had very little information when I originally estimated his current year cap cost. I guessed at a $3M signing bonus. He actually received a $1.2M signing bonus and a $965,000 roster bonus, with $100,000 workout bonuses due in each year of his contract. Those costs, along with his $730,000 base salary puts his current year cap cost at $2.195M.

Drew Stanton - Either has received or will receive a $1.245M option bonus that reduced his base pay for the current season from $785,000 to $370,000. He's also due a $513,900 NLTBE bonus that is based on playing time. Unless he wins the starting job or inherits it due to injury, he likely won't obtain that bonus and it will carry over to the following season. His current year cap cost is $785,000.

Kalimba Edwards - He was designated as a June 1st cut. On June 1st, the Lions will receive $4M in cap savings and will have $2M worth of dead cap space in 2009. I explain it in a little more detail in an earlier blog entry. The $4M in cap savings will provide for the bulk of the rookie cap space needed (usually a little over $5M per year, but won't be determined until after the draft). Current year cap savings $0 (nothing until June 1st).

Current year cap status $2.4M under, without including the Brian Kelly signing.

Several Free Agent Transactions

7:20PM EDT

The Lions have been busy over the last several days. First, I need to update a couple of previously reported cap costs for Keith Smith and Leigh Bodden. Then I'll break down the official signings of Travis Fisher, George Foster and Chuck Darby. Lastly, I'll address the cap implications from the release of Kevin Jones, Kalimba Edwards and Blaine Saipaia.


Keith Smith

According to John Clayton of ESPN, Smith agreed to a 2 year $5M contract. His base salaries are $1M in 2008 and $2M in 2009. The other $2M of the contract can be either signing bonus and/or roster bonuses in 2008 or 2009. I'm going to assume that $1.75M is a signing bonus and the other $250K is a roster bonus due if he makes the opening day roster. Current year cap cost $2.125M.

Leigh Bodden

The Browns extended Bodden's contract in December of 2005. He received bonuses of $1.5M in 2006 and $1.1M in 2007. Based on that and the fact that Jason Cole of Yahoo.com reported that the Lions as $4.4M under the cap on March 6th, I'm going to assume that he has a bonus due to him of $1.5M. That added with his base salary of $1.7M would put his current year cap cost at $3.2M.

Travis Fisher

According to profootballtalk.com, Fisher agreed to a 3 year $9M deal with $4.25M due in 2008. His base salaries are $1.75M in 2008, $1.75M in 2009 and $2.5M in 2010. I would assume that the other $2.5M of his 2008 compensation is his signing bonus, while the other $500K that makes up his $9M total contract is a roster bonus due in 2010. Under the above assumption, Fisher's current year cap cost would be $2.58M.

George Foster

According to John Clayton of ESPN, Foster agreed to a 1 year $1.1M deal with a base salary of $800,000. The other $300,000 of Foster's contract is probably a signing bonus. Either way, his current year cap cost is $1.1M.

Chuck Darby

Darby agreed to a 3 year deal with the Lions. He's due base salaries of $730K in 2008, $745K in 2009 and $760K in 2010. Other financial terms were not disclosed. Based on what he's made in the past and his current age, I'd guess that his signing bonus was $3M. With the above assumptions, his current year cap cost would be $1.73M.

Tatum Bell

According to John Clayton of ESPN, Bell agreed to a 1 year $1.6M contract. The contract hasn't been officially signed and submitted to the NFL or the NFLPA, but irregardless of how much is base salary or bonus money, Bell's current year cap cost will be $1.6M.

Blaine Saipaia

In 2007, the Lions signed Saipaia to a 2 year contract with a $300,000 signing bonus. Saipaia was due to make $775,000 that the Lions will not now have to pay. As a result of Saipaia's release, he provides a current year cap savings of $775K.

Kevin Jones

Jones signed a rookie year contract that gave him a two-tiered signing bonus. The 2nd year bonus is an option bonus that alters the contract but allows the option bonus to be amortized over the life of the contract. He received a $1.2M signing bonus in 2004 and a $1.805M option bonus in 2005. During the 2007 season, Jones had reached an escalator in his contract that increased his 2008 base salary by $1.86M and was scheduled to make a base salary of $2.37M this year plus, according to John Clayton, a roster bonus of $142,500. As a result of his release, he gives the Lions a current year cap savings of $2.51M.

Kalimba Edwards

For a detailed breakdown of Edwards contract, check out my June 1st designation blog entry. Because of the immediate need for cap space, I doubt that Edwards was designated as a June 1st cut and he was therefore released outright. His current year cap savings is $1.9M.



Based on the above transactions, I have the Lions about $3.2M under the current year cap and expect almost the entire amount to be used up when Kalvin Pearson and Brian Kelly officially sign.

June 1st Designation

6:20pm EST

June 1st is an important date in the NFL. Players cut before this date, must have any unamortized signing bonus accelerated to the current year. Players cut after this date, have any unamortized signing bonus money accelerated to the next season. Several years ago, before teams got the hang of the salary cap, June 1st cuts were a big deal and there would be several quality veterans that would be cut on this date. With the large salary cap increases (42% increase in the last three years) and the fact that teams have learned to manage their cap much better, there isn't as great of a need to wait until June 1st to cut players.

With the most recent CBA extension, there was a new rule implemented. It allowed teams to designate up to two players as June 1 cuts, release them immediately and have the cap implications treated as if the player(s) were cut on June 1st. Both the owners and the players wanted this designation. The owners because they could release players now, free up a roster spot to sign veteran free agents. The NFLPA wanted this rule, because it allowed the players to be free to negotiate a contract earlier in free agency instead of having to wait until being officially cut on June 1 to look for a new team. In the past, most teams had used most of their current year cap space by June 1st and had little cap space to sign these players. Players released after June 1st often times had very limited options.

I see two potential candidates for possible June 1st designation

Kalimba Edwards

Edwards was a healthy inactive for the final two games of the 2007 season, he's due a base salary of $3.9M and $100,000 workout bonus. The Lions are not going to pay that kind of cash to a player that they didn't even think could help their team late in the 2007 season. In 2006, Edwards signed a 5 year contract and received an $5M signing bonus. $1M is allocated to each year ($5M/5 years) and $1M is already accounted for in the Lions cap costs for 2008, while another $1M is allocated to 2009 and 2010. If Edwards is released outright or traded, the Lions will save $2M against the cap ($4M in compensation less the $2M allocated to 2009 and 2010). If he's designated as a June 1st cut, the Lions will save $4M against the current year cap on June 1st and have $2M of dead cap in 2009. Dead cap is having a cap cost for a player without having the player on the team.

Kenoy Kennedy

The Lions have recently drafted two 2nd round safeties, one in each of the past two years, Gerald Alexander in 2007 and Daniel Bullocks in 2006. They recently signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety, Dwight Smith to a two year contract and signed Tampa Bay Restricted Free Agent, Kalvin Pearson to an offer sheet (The Bucs have until mid next week to decide to match or not). The Lions have never carried more than four safeties and Kennedy looks to be the odd man out. In 2005, the Lions signed Kennedy to a 5 year contract and gave him a $3.4M signing bonus, $680K allocated to each season ($3.4M/5 years). He's due $2.7M in base salary for the current season. The base salary of $2.7M and the 2008 portion of the signing bonus is included in the Lions current year cap figure. If Kennedy is traded or released outright, the Lions will save $2.02M against the 2008 cap ($2.7M less the $680K allocated to 2009). If they release Kennedy and designate him as a June 1 cut, they'll save $2.7M against the current year cap and have $680K of dead cap space in 2009.

Based on what the Lions have done thus far in free agency, leads me to believe that they probably designated Fernando Bryant as a June 1st cut.

Fernando Bryant

When Bryant was cut on 02/25/08, he had two years remaining on his contract. Back in 2004, Bryant signed a 6 year contract with the Lions, he received a signing bonus of $7M, which was prorated proportionately over the entire 6 years of his contract ($1,166,667 per year). In 2008, Bryant was due to receive a base salary of $3.35M, a roster bonus in early March of $500K and his current year cap cost was scheduled to be $5.017M (3.35M+500K+1.167M). When he was released (assuming the Lions didn't use the June 1 designation on him), they saved his current year compensation of $3.85M less the unamortized portion of his signing bonus allocated to 2009, for a net savings of $2.683M. If Bryant was treated as a June 1 cut, the Lions would save an additional $1,167M.

Travis Fisher, Chuck Darby and Brian Kelly have all recently signed three year contracts and George Foster signed a one year deal. Cap costs for the recent signings will be calculated when more details become available.

Estimated Cap Status $8M Under

Cason and Hulsey Sign One Year Contracts

6:20pm EST

Aveion Cason

Cason is now a 7 year veteran who was a cut and resigned several times throughout the 2007 season. Cason is a likely candidate for a Vet Minimum contract. His $730,000 base salary is the minimum salary for a 7 year veteran and $285,000 will be subsidized by the NFLPA. He probably received a $40,000 signing bonus and will have a current year cap cost of $485,000.

Corey Hulsey

Hulsey is a 5 year veteran who didn't play in 2007. He played with Oakland in 2006 and prior. Hulsey signed for the Vet Minimum for a 5 year veteran of $605,000. $160,000 of his salary will be subsidized by the NFLPA. If he received a $40,000 signing bonus (the maximum for a vet minimum contract), he'll have a current year cap cost of $485,000.

Travis Fisher and Chuck Darby have both recently signed three year contracts with the Lions, cap costs will be calculated as details become available.

Estimated Cap Space $6.9M under

RFA and Kalvin Pearson

7:50am EST

Restricted Free Agency

As discussed in an earlier blog entry, http://lionscap.blogspot.com/2008/02/free-agency-begins.html, players with 3 accrued seasons, that have been given a required tender are considered a Restricted Free Agent (RFA) and are free to negotiate a player contract with any team in the NFL. If they reach an agreement with a team, the New club and the player sign an offer sheet. An offer sheet outlines the principles terms of a contract, including the number of years, the guaranteed salary, the signing bonus, base pay, etc. Once an offer sheet is executed, the RFA submits the offer sheet to his prior club, who has one week to exercise their right of first refusal (ROFR). If they exercise this ROFR, they agree to a contract with the RFA that contains the principle terms of the offer sheet. If the prior club declines to exercise their ROFR, the new club and the player shall be deemed to have entered into a binding player contract for the principle terms outlined in the offer sheet. The prior club will then receive draft choice compensation, if any, from the new club equal to the amount of the required tender given to the player at the start of free agency.

Kalvin Pearson

Kalvin Pearson is a RFA that was given a general tender by Tampa Bay, was originally an undrafted rookie and therefore, has no draft choice compensation attached to his tender. According to ESPN, the Lions executed an offer sheet for a 3 year, $3.5M contract that includes a signing bonus of $1.1M with Kalvin Pearson. Tampa Bay has one week to decide if they want to exercise the ROFR and match the offer sheet.

Escalators

8:35am EST

Sometimes a player's contract, especially a rookie contract, contains escalator. An escalator is a provision in the player's contract that increases the salary paid in the following season. They work much the same way as LTBE and NLTBE incentive bonuses, but instead of paying the bonus out on a specific date, the player's base salary for the following season increases and is paid when the player receives his base pay salary checks. The Lions have had two players that have recently hit an escalator.

Jon Kitna

As I had said in a previous blog, over the past two seasons, Kitna has had two very good statistical seasons and it wouldn't be surprising if he had an incentive bonus that was triggered. According to the NFLPA, his base salary recently was increased from $1.95M to $2.95M. He triggered one of the escalators that was written into his contract and instead of it being a bonus payment, it increased his base salary for 2008. Current year cap cost $3.825M.

Roy Williams

Roy has also had very good statistical seasons over his first four seasons in the league. In 2006, he hit an escalator that increased his base salary by $2.85M, from $535,000 to $3,385,000. Similarly, in 2007, he triggered another escalator that increased his 2008 base salary by $3.1M, from $574,500 to $3,724,500. Current year cap cost $5.1M.

In a prior blog entry, I tried to explain how both ProFootballTalk and Adam Schefter could both be correct with their reports on the Lions cap status. On 02/19/2008, ProFootballTalk reported that the Lions were $17.9M under the cap and on 02/21/2008 Adam Schefter reported that the Lions were only $6.8M under the cap. ProFootballTalk's figure didn't include the Kitna or Williams' escalators of $4.1M and it also did not include the $5.35M cap adjustment that was reported by Frank Reuban of SI.com. Thus far, we've explained about $9.5M of the $11.1M difference between the two reports and the other $1.6M is probably incentive bonuses within player contracts that are being reclassified from NLTBE to LTBE bonuses.

Lions Shore up the TE position

6:20pm EST

With Dan Campbell being placed on IR last year and the uncertainty of when he'll be fully recovered from his elbow injury, the Lions resigned John Owens and signed UFA Michael Gaines.

John Owens

Owens is now a 5 year veteran who was originally signed midway through last season to help as a blocking TE. Although there are no reports that I can find on how much he signed for, the fact that his base salary is $605,000, leads me to believe that he signed for the Veteran Minimum. For five year veterans whose contract qualifies as a vet minimum contract, the NFLPA pays $160K of the contract. This also saves the team with $160K of cap space. The contract cannot have a signing bonus in excess of $40,000 and must be for the league salary minimum for that players experience. The Lions usually pay the $40K signing bonus to veterans that they sign this early in free agency. If this is the case, Owens' current year cap cost would be $485,000.

Michael Gaines

According to ESPN.com and the local newspapers, Michael Gaines agreed to a 4 year, $10M contract with $3M guaranteed. The NFLPA's website has his base salaries as $800K for 2008, $1.6M for 2009, $2.1M for 2010 and $2M for 2011. The $3M that is guaranteed is likely the signing bonus that the Lions gave Gaines. The other $500K that makes up the $10M contract is likely either a roster bonus due in 2010 or two $250K roster bonuses due in each of 2009 and 2010. Either way, Gaines' current year cap cost would be $1.5M.

Estimated cap space $7.15M under

The Shaun Rogers/Leigh Bodden Trade

8:35am EST

Shaun Rogers was traded to the Bengals for a 3rd and 5th rounder, which was rescinded and then he was finally dealt to the Browns for Leigh Bodden. My guess (and it's purely a guess), is that after the trade was agreed to, Cincinnati was either under the impression or was going to wait until after midnight (when the Lions would have been responsible for Rogers roster bonus) to submit the trade proposal to the league. Millen balked at the idea that he'd pay the roster bonus and traded Rogers to the Browns. Which is ok, I personally like that trade better. It's purely a guess on my part.

Breaking down Shaun Rogers contract

In December of 2004, Shaun Rogers signed an extension. When he signed the extension, he received a $9M signing bonus. In March of 2005, he received a 3.5M guaranteed roster bonus. The contract called for him to receive base salaries of $650K for 2005, $850K for 2006, $1.5M for 2007, $4.25M for 2008, $5.25M for 2009 and $7M in 2010. He was also due $1M roster bonuses (non-guaranteed) on the first of March in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

When a player receives a signing bonus, the CBA allows the signing bonus to be amortized over the length of the contract. However, for the 2004 season the maximum proration for signing bonuses to be amortized was six years. So, the Signing bonus is allocated proportionately over the first 6 years of the contract (2004-2009) and nothing is allocated to the final year of the contract. $1.5M allocated to each year through 2009.

The guaranteed roster bonus, for salary cap purposes, is treated just like a signing bonus. The $3.5M is amortized over the length of the contract. For the 2005 season (the year the bonus was paid), the maximum proration of signing bonuses was 5 years. The roster bonus would have been amortized proportionately over the five years from 2005-2009 or $700K per year.

According to Rogers contract, his salary cap figure by year, would have been as follows:
2004 $2,213,750 (1.5M added to his current 2004 cap figure of $713,750)
2005 $2.85M (650K in salary, 1.5M in SB amortization and 700K in RB amortization)
2006 $3.05M (850K in salary, 1.5M in SB amortization and 700K in RB amortization)
2007 $3.7M (1.5M in salary, 1.5M in SB amortization and 700K in RB amortization)
2008 $7.45M (4.25M in salary, 1.5M in SB amort, 700K in RB amort, 1M in RB)
2009 $8.45M (5.25M in salary, 1.5M in SB amort, 700K in RB amort, 1M in RB)
2010 $8M (7M in salary and 1M in RB)

In 2008, Shaun Rogers would have been included in the Lions cap calculation for 7.45M, when he was traded, we would have saved his salary (4.25M) and his roster bonus (1.M), but we would also have to accelerate the remaining unamortized portion of his bonuses (1.5M and 700K) that were allocated to 2009. So the cap effect of trading Rogers was $3.05M cap savings). His cap figure on our books for 2008 would be 4.4M (2.2M in 2008 amortization and 2.2M in accelerated 2009 amortization), commonly referred to as dead cap.

Leigh Bodden

Leigh Bodden was acquired in the trade of Rogers. He is due base salaries of 1.7M in 2008 and 1.8M in 2009. Current year Cap cost $1.7M.

Assuming that Adam Schefter was correct when he reported that the Lions were 6.8M under the cap on 02/21/08. And since he's looking at actual reports generated by the league, there's no reason to assume that he isn't correct. From now to the start of the season, teams only must count the top 51 player cap costs toward their cap figure. So, by my estimation, we are about 8.5M under the cap.

Askthecommish.com has a nice FAQ section that explains a lot of the rules of the salary cap and how it relates to player contracts. http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/faq.asp

2008 Salary cap and Adjustments

12:35pm EST

Frank Reuban of si.com wrote an article a few hours before I posted my last blog explaining the reconciliation process. He confirms that the Lions had a rather large negative adjustment to their cap when the LTBE bonuses were reconciled to the NLTBE bonuses, ($5,348,065). He also posted that the actual salary cap is a little higher than the 116M that has been estimated and is actually $116,729,000, so the Lions have $111,380,935 to spend for the 2008 league year.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/reuben_frank/03/01/cap.figures/1.html

How much money do the Lions have to spend?

5:15am EST

On February 19th, Profootballtalk reported that the Lions had cap charges of $98.1M, which would put the Lions at $17.9M under the projected cap of $116M. Two days later on February 21st, Adam Schefter of NFL.com reported that the Lions were only $6.8M under the cap. The Lions made no transactions on or around those days and the difference is a fairly significant $11.1M, so who's right and who's full of crap? The truth is, they are probably both right.

In order to understand why they might both be right, you need to understand the difference in how bonuses are calculated. Most player contracts, especially rookies, include incentive bonuses that are triggered when a player meets certain thresholds. They can be based on pretty much any statistic and include, but not limited to, playing time, passing yards, receptions, tackles, sacks, interception, offensive production, wins etc. These incentives can be based on either a single season or multiple seasons. The CBA classifies incentive bonuses into two types, likely to be earned bonuses (LTBE) and Non-likely to be earned bonuses (NLTBE).

LTBE Bonuses are bonuses that are, just like it says, likely to be earned. In the simplest terms, if a player reaches the threshold to trigger the incentive in the prior season, than it is deemed to be LTBE in the current season. Conversely, if he did not reach the threshold to trigger the incentive in the prior season, than it is deemed to be NLTBE in the current season. For rookies (i.e. Calvin Johnson), there are various charts within the CBA that specifies if and how much of an incentive bonus is to be deemed LTBE

Jon Kitna has thrown for more than 4,000 yards in each of the last two seasons. There could have been playing time or passing yards incentives that he triggered that resulted in bonus payments of a lot of money. Passing for 4,000 yards in a season is generally considered to be quite an accomplishment.

Calvin Johnson may not have had as good of a year as we had hoped for, but he didn't have a bad year from a rookie perspective. He could have triggered some incentives.

Ernie Sims has played in every game and has had a lot of tackles over the last couple of years. He could have triggered some incentives that were originally considered NLTBE.

Paris Lenon has also had a lot of tackles over the past couple of years, he could have triggered some bonuses.

A players contract and how it relates to the salary cap is very complex. LTBE and NLTBE incentives can greatly change a teams salary cap status and it can be a double edge sword. i.e. If a player reached an 2007 incentive threshold to trigger a previously classified NLTBE bonus, it will be reconciled at the end of the year and reduce the 2008 salary cap and if that same incentive is in the players contract for 2008, it will be considered a LTBE incentive for the current year and reduce the 2008 salary cap even more.

More than likely, both profootballtalk.com and Adam Schefter were correct with their reports of the Lions cap status, it's just that Adam Schefter's figure included the reconciliation of LTBE bonuses and NLTBE bonuses.