Comments on: DeAngelo’s New Home

By: mwatkins

mwatkins — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:13:17 +0000

It would appear so. Forfeiting the contract would be synonymous with a breach of contract, and the team would most definitely be able to recover. That’s why Ricky Williams owed the Saints over $8 million when he “left” and also why the Falcons were going after a lot of Michael Vick’s bonuses.

You could technically make the signing bonuses non-guaranteed, but you wouldn’t be around as an agent very long I would assume.

By: Dominic Perilli

Dominic Perilli — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:00:39 +0000

Ok, I just looked at the book titled “Next Question” by Drew Rosenhaus. It is up to you if you want to take Drew as a reliable source of information but given how successful he is, I do. Rosenhaus states: “The new legal ruling stated that of the salary, signing bonus, option bonus, and roster bonus, only the signing bonus has to be paid back to the team if the player forfeits the contract after the initial year the bonuses were earned.” (Rosenhaus 243) A keyword in there is PLAYER. That might be where I got tripped up at.

By: Dominic Perilli

Dominic Perilli — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:19:16 +0000

I remember reading a part of Drew Rosenhaus’ new book and it said something that a new NFL rule now allows teams to demand signing bonuses to be paid back if the player is cut or if the player gets in trouble. I will double check and post later.

I was reading on http://www.AskTheCommish.com and there was a Salary Cap FAQ there. It stated that since the CBA was extended, the proration of the bonuses could not extend past 2009. (http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/faq.asp)

As I said, I will double check the book and post it here.

By: mwatkins

mwatkins — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:10:09 +0000

I think you guys are misinterpreting NFL contracts. First, I never heard of a rule that allows a team take a player’s signing bonus back for merely being cut. That would defeat the purpose of a signing bonus. Players are rewarded with large signing bonuses to make up for the possibility of being cut prior to fulfilling their entire unguaranteed contract.

As far as signing bonuses work, they are almost always paid up front. You guys are confusing the proration and acceleration issues that only effect the team for salary cap purposes, and have zero effect on when and how much the player receives.

If a player receives an $8 million signing bonus for a 4 year contract, he gets it all up front, but the signing bonus is prorated so the team only takes a $2 million hit on the salary cap each year on the bonus for the 4 year contract. If the player is cut before the 4 years are up, the remaining signing bonus dollars not yet prorated are then accelerated and count against the cap either that year or the next (depending on when in the season the player is cut). The player’s bank account is not effected. This is simply for accounting purposes for the salary cap. I hope that helps.

By: Dominic Perilli

Dominic Perilli — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:06:52 +0000

Marcus, after doing some further research I have found that the guaranteed money does not come in the form of bonuses. It is sort of like a bonus in itself in that it has to be paid over the course of the contract but is accelerated to the current year in the event of a cut.

By: Dominic Perilli

Dominic Perilli — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:03:20 +0000

Marcus,

The guaranteed money comes in the form of bonuses. A new rule by the NFL allowed teams to take back a player’s signing bonus if that player is cut. With that being said, the Raiders most likely gave DeAngelo an option bonus which is usually prorated throughout the length of his contract and does not have to be paid back in the event of a cut. However, if the player is cut and their is an option bonus on his contract the bonus is accelerated to the current year and the player receives all of the bonus money.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:16:53 +0000

Dominic, The NFL Contracts Are Kind Of Misleading. The Question I Have Is Do The Raiders Have To Pay All Of The $8 Million To Deangelo Up Front Or Does He Get Paid Over A Period Of Time?

By: Dominic Perilli

Dominic Perilli — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:44:24 +0000

Chris,

I agree 100%. DeAngelo’s agent should of gotten him more cash up front or in the form of an option bonus because the options do not have to be payed back say in this case when DeAngelo was cut. Signing bonuses have to be paid back.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:37:43 +0000

DH’s deal was a mega deal simply based on the fact that his bonuses were Injury-based bonuses… or rather, if he stayed healthy he would earn his money. Because the majority of it was not guaranteed, Hall will not see the mega-deal money in which his agent will now claim to have so successfully negotiated. He had to play out much more of his contract, including at least a full season, before he would see the real pay day from that contract. Two words… UP FRONT. Roster bonus or signing bonus. Get the man his money early and all is well in this situation, for both the client and agent (His agent will now see only 3%, or whatever he may charge, of the $8million as opposed to anything upwards to the $70mill…. ouch.)

By: Dominic Perilli

Dominic Perilli — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:40:09 +0000

John, although the full details of DeAngelo’s contract with the Raiders in unavailable now, I can say that DeAngelo’s agent might of negotiated a (what looks to be) mega deal but in all reality DeAngelo may not see that $70 million. The reason for this is that NFL contracts always look enormous in a news headline but alot of that money may come in the form of bonuses or incentives. If DeAngelo let’s say doesn’t complete a 10 interception incentive, he won’t get paid that $10 million so-to-speak. The reason for the $8 million guaranteed might be simply because the teams these days are extremely hesitant on paying players tons of cash up front.

As a side note to your last question, DeAngelo signed a 1-year $1 million deal with the Redskins; so, no he will not come close to the contract with the signed with the Raiders.

Take care,

-DP