Takeo Spikes and Recent Transactions

12:05am

Takeo Spikes - According to Rotoworld, Spikes signed a one year contract for $1.48M that includes a $300,000 Signing Bonus, contains a $140,000 Roster Bonus and a $1,040,000 Base Salary. An additional $200,000 can be earned through incentives.

It's not a lot and the Lions reportedly offered him $1.5M, it looks like it was a matter of Spikes choosing San Francisco over Detroit. Contrary to what the local media may report, it looks like the salary cap didn't have anything to do with salary cap limitations and had to do more with Spikes choosing San Francisco over Detroit.

Nick Jones and Eddie Johnson were both released on August 9th. There release will have no effect on the Lions current cap status.

Dave Rayner signed for the league minimum for players with 3 years of service, $520,000 and his current year player cost is $520,000. His player cost will figure into the Top 51 Calculation and reduce the Lions Cap Status by about $60,000.


Damion Cook signed for $605,000, the league minimum for players with 4 years of service. The NFLPA will subsidize $160,000 of his salary and Cook's current year player cost will be $445,000.

Kiwaukee Thomas, an 8 year veteran signed for the league minimum $730,000 and the NFLPA will subsidize $285,000 of his salary. Thomas' 2008 player cost will be $445,000.


Stanley Wilson was placed on Injured Reserve on August 11th. The move doesn't effect the Lions current cap status. His contract likely doesn't include a split salary and unless an injury settlement is reached, he'll count $933,720 against the cap.

Based on the above, the Lions are currently about $4.1M under the cap.

Training Camp Battles (DB) - Cap Perspective

6:05am

Based on Nate's Projected Defensive Roster, the Lions would have five CB's and five S's. The five CB's plus Wilson (IR) would count $9,528,933 with an additional $12,000 of Dead Cap. The Safeties would cost $5,395,517 with no dead cap implications.

CB's Current Year Cap Charge:

• Travis Fisher - $2,756,720
• Brian Kelly - $2,340,000
• Keith Smith - $2,006,720
• Leigh Bodden - $1,040,053
• Stanley Wilson - $933,720 **
• DeVonte Edwards - $451,720
• Ramzee Robinson - $376,720
• LaMarcus Hicks - $375,280

CB's 2008 Dead Cap if Traded or Released:

• Brian Kelly - $1,090,053
• Travis Fisher - $1,006,720
• Keith Smith - $1,006,720
• Leigh Bodden - $340,053
• Stanley Wilson - $933,720 **
• DeVonte Edwards - $6,720
• Ramzee Robinson - $6,720
• LaMarcus Hicks - $5,280

S's Current Year Cap Charge:

• Dwight Smith - $2,006,720
• Kalvin Pearson - $1,422,387
• Daniel Bullocks - $942,970
• Gerald Alexander - $571,720
• Greg Blue - $451,720
• Stephen Howell - $295,000

S's 2008 Dead Cap if Traded or Released:

• Kalvin Pearson - $1,046,720
• Dwight Smith - $656,720
• Daniel Bullocks - $497,970
• Gerald Alexander - $201,720
• Greg Blue - $6,720
• Stephen Howell - $0

** Stanley Wilson was placed on IR after being injured during the first preseason game. When a football injury occurs while on the roster, the base salary is guaranteed to be paid for the year. At some point, the Lions may reach a settlement with Wilson for a lesser amount, but they are currently on the hook for his current year base salary.

MiscellaneousTransactions

04:20 EDT

Over the past couple of weeks, the Lions made several transactions, none of which effected the salary cap much.

Stanley Wilson - Wilson was a Restricted Free Agent (RFA) and before the year began, the Lions offered him a general tender of $927,000. The amount of RFA tenders are counted against the cap at the start of the league year. So, when Wilson officially signed his tender on April 8th, it had no effect on the Lions cap status. His current year cap cost is $927,000.

LaMarcus Hicks - Hicks is entering his second year and signed on April 8th for the league minimum. His salary is not included in the Top 51 and does not effect the Lions current cap status. Current year cap cost is $370,000.

Paul Ernster - Ernster is entering his third year and signed on April 10th for the league minimum. His salary is not included in the top 51 and does not effect the Lions current cap status. Current year cap cost is $445,000.

Stephen Peterman - Just like Wilson, Peterman was a RFA and was offered a general tender of $927,000. He officially signed the tender on April 17th. His current year cap cost is $927,000.

Patrick Body - Was released on April 8th. His base salary of 445,000 was not included in the Lions cap cost. There was no cap savings from releasing Body.

John Deraney - Deraney was released on April 14th. In an earlier blog entry, I suggested that it was odd that they kept Deraney on the roster as long as they did and that no injury settlement was reached. I stand by the fact that I find it odd, but nothing more came of it. Deraney signed a 3 year contract in May of 2007 in which he received a $5,000 signing bonus and was due a base salary of $370,000 in 2008. The Lions have dead cap from releasing Deraney in the amount of $3,334.

Restricted Free Agency

9:15 EDT

Restricted Free Agency will come to a close this Friday, April 19th. RFA's have until this Friday to negotiate a player contract with another team. If they fail to do so, their rights remain with their current club. Below is a Q&A about RFA.

Who is eligible for Restricted Free Agency? - When the salary cap is in effect, anyone with three accrued seasons in the NFL and has a contract set to expire on the last day of the league year (end of February).

What is an accrued season? - A player earns an accrued season when he is on the Active, Inactive or Injured Reserve list for six regular season games.

If a player is eligible for Restricted Free Agency, does he automatically become a RFA? - No, he must receive a "tender" from a team that owns his rights.

What is a "Tender"? - A tender is a one-year contract offer from the club that owns a players rights.

How much is the Tender? - For 2008 league year, there are four tender levels for Restricted Free Agents, as follow:

• 1st & 3rd Round Tender - $2,562,000
• 1st Round Tender - $2,017,000
• 2nd Round Tender - $1,417,000
• General Tender - $927,000

What happens after a RFA receives his tender? - A player has two options:

• He may sign the tender and if he survives final cuts, he'll be due the salary assigned to the tender. However, none of the salary is guaranteed and he could be cut on the final day of camp and not make anything.
• He can attempt to negotiate a player contract with another team.

What happens if he negotiates a contract with another team? - The new team and the RFA would sign an offer sheet that contains the principle terms of a pending contract (Number of years, Guaranteed Money, Signing Bonus, Roster Bonuses, Base Salary, etc). The player would then submit the offer sheet to his prior club, who would have 7 days to decide if they want to match the offer sheet or decline and receive any draft choice compensation that is attached to the tender.

What draft choice compensation is attached to the tender?

• 1st & 3rd round tender - 1st & 3rd round draft choice compensation
• 1st round tender - 1st round draft choice compensation
• 2nd round tender - 2nd round draft choice compensation
• General tender - draft choice compensation equal to the round in which the RFA was originally drafted. An undrafted player would have no draft choice compensation.

Who are the Lion's RFA's? - Stanley Wilson has already signed his general tender and is scheduled to make $927,000 next season. As of Today, the Lions still have 3 players who haven't signed their tender yet.

• Langston Moore - General Tender with 6th round draft compensation
• Dan Orlovsky - General Tender with 5th round draft compensation
• Stephen Peterman - General Tender with 3rd round draft compensation

Will the Lions sign any RFA's? - The Lions did sign one restricted free agent, Kalvin Pearson. Pearson received a general tender and was originally an undrafted rookie free agent and, therefore, the Lions didn't lose any draft picks. At this time, I don't think the Lions will pursue any other RFA's. If they do, they'd probably look at defensive line or linebacker, where there are a few remaining RFA's.

Free Agency Begins

1:35pm EST

As of February 29th at 12:01am, the Lions have officially entered their playoffs (free agency), that will culminate with our SuperBowl appearance late April (NFL draft).

As with any sport, there is a business aspect to football. There are rules and regulations that all NFL teams must comply to. If there weren't, we'd have the disparity that exists in baseball (although with recent changes, that disparity is less today than it has been in the past). Those rules are an agreement between the owners and the players that are outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, commonly referred to as the CBA. The Salary Cap is one of the rules that greatly limits and effects what a team can and can not do. The CBA is a 400 plus page document that is basically the rule book for the NFL. If you're interested in reading it (get a life!!), it can be found at the NFLPA.Org's website at the following address http://www.nflpa.org/CBA/CBA_Complete.aspx. It does have some interesting information if you want to scan it.

For players that were only signed through the 2007 season, their contracts officially expired at midnight on February 28th. These players are now free agents and according to the rules of the CBA, they are lumped into one of several different classes of free agents, based on the number of accrued seasons they have. A player gains an accrued season anytime he's on the roster (active, inactive, injured reserve) for six regular season games.

Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA) – These players are players that have less than 3 accrued seasons. They are not allowed to negotiate a contract with any other teams, other than their current team and if they want to play, they must sign a contract for the league minimum based on their years of service in the NFL. The Lions had four such players. DeVale Ellis has already signed his contract for 445K. I would assume that the others have been offered a contract, but have yet to sign it. Sean McHugh (535K), Greg Blue (370K) and LaMarcus Hicks (370K).

Restricted Free Agents (RFA) – These players have 3 accrued seasons and can be tendered a contract of 4 different amounts. For 2008, the amounts are General Tender ($927,000), a 2nd Round tender ($1,417,000), a 1st round tender ($2,017,000) or a 1st and 3rd round tender ($2,562,000). The Lions had four players qualify:

• Langston Moore (6th Round)
• Dan Orlovsky (5th Round)
• Stephen Peterman (3rd Round)
• Stanley Wilson (3rd Round)

The Lions elected to give them all a general tender. What that means is the Lions have offered to sign them for the 2008 season and pay them $927,000, provided they make the team. These players can either sign the tender and join the Lions or they can sign a contract with another team. If they elect to sign with another team, the Lions would have the option of either matching that contract and retain the player or receive draft choice compensation from the acquiring team equal to the round in which they were originally drafted.

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) – These players have at least four accrued seasons and are free to negotiate with the Lions or any other team. Players released by other teams are allowed to sign a player contract before the start of free agency. If a player is not released, he may only negotiate with his current team before the start of free agency. The Lions signed two free agents before free agency began.

• Dwight Smith (cut by the Vikings) – Reportedly a two-year, $5M contract that will pay him a signing bonus of $350K, a roster bonus of $300K and a base salary of 1.35M in 2008 and a roster bonus of $750K and a base salary of $2.25M in 2009. The current year cap charge will be $1,825,000.
• Keith Smith – Reportedly signed a two-year, $5M contract with the Lions. Although there are currently no details of his contract available, his current year cap hit will likely be about the same as Dwight Smith's.

The Lions also cut one player before the start of free agency.

• Fernando Bryant – He was due to make a base salary of $3.35M and had a roster bonus of $500K due in early March. Since he was cut, the Lions will saved his current year compensation of $3.85M less the unamortized portion of his signing bonus $1.167M or about $2.683M.

The Lions also had three players that elected to void the final year(s) of their contract. Damien Woody, George Foster and Tatum Bell. When a player voids his contract, the salary cap effect of the voided contract works the same way as when a player is cut.

• Damien Woody – In 2007, Woody agreed to take a $2.25M pay cut and in return, the Lions gave him the option to void his contract at the end of the 2007 league year. He was due to make a base salary of $4.5M this year. Since he voided his contract, the Lions will save his base salary of $4.5M less the unamortized portion of his signing bonus of $1.5M or about $3M savings.
• George Foster – The Lions acquired Foster in a trade at the start of the 2006 season and Foster was due a base salary of $871, 250 plus a workout bonus of $35,000. Since he elected to void his contract, the Lions will save $906,250 against the current years cap. Since he was acquired in a trade, there was no unamortized signing bonus, Denver had originally paid his signing bonus.
• Tatum Bell – In the trade for Foster, the Lions also acquired Bell. His base salary for the 2008 season was $545,000 and since he elected to void his contract, the Lions saved $545,000.

In summary, Adam Schefter of NFL.com had the Lions at $6.8M under the cap on February 21st. Since that time, the Lions had cap charges from three ERFA's $1.275M, four RFA's $3.7M, signed two free agents $3.65M. And had cap savings of about $7.125M from four players that were either cut or voided their contracts which would put them about 5.3M under the cap (6.8M + 7.125M - 1.275M - 3.7M - 3.65M).

Keep in mind that player contracts are several pages long and include base salaries, signing bonuses, option bonuses, roster bonuses, report bonuses, workout bonuses, salary advances, likely to be earned bonuses, non-likely to be earned bonuses, escalators and voiding provisions. All of these amounts are and can be treated differently depending on the wording of the contract and how it relates to the CBA. As a result, the numbers that I've posted and how they effect the Lions salary cap are only reasonable estimates and shouldn't be interpreted as exact.