263 replies to this topic

[makoman]

So whats the purpose of having 4 void years?

Lower this year's hit. Spread the bonus over 5 years, so pay 1/5 against the cap this year.

 

If there was say 1 void year, you pay 1/2 against the cap this year.

[mdrunning]

Void years seem to be a new trend.

You can thank covid for that.

[Mike in STL]

You can thank covid for that.

Is it? I don't know. I look at it like a loophole to try to win now/pay later. For example, Aaron Rodgers. Pretend its August and he's not injured yet. He can get you to a Super Bowl, but you want to fit him under the cap and you don't want to give him a contract until he's 44 years old. But you can't get him and other guys under the cap for the coming seasons unless bonus money is spread out over 5-years. In this case the Jets void 3 years, and they have 3 years to make the gamble payoff before a $35M cap hit comes in the void year of 2026 and Rodgers is not under contract anymore.

 

In a younger players contract a $35M cap hit might mean time to extend them to lower the cap hit, or they are worth it given the age. But you don't ideally do that for someone at that point that is age 42. 

 

So, it kind of makes sense for maybe a couple guys in the league and a couple teams. But I don't think it made much sense for the Ravens to do this for Beckham, especially when no one else was calling him. He's not the guy that puts the team over the top like a Rodgers could have (would have) done for the Jets. This is basically going to be the Ray Rice or Earl Thomas dead money type of penalty. Or as I'm calling it, the Lamar Jackson Extension Tax. 

 

If the Jets win a SB, the $35M "tax" is well worth it. Especially 3 years from now when the cap is that much higher. To do it for one year, the next year, is pretty dumb.  

[mdrunning]

Is it? I don't know. I look at it like a loophole to try to win now/pay later. For example, Aaron Rodgers. Pretend its August and he's not injured yet. He can get you to a Super Bowl, but you want to fit him under the cap and you don't want to give him a contract until he's 44 years old. But you can't get him and other guys under the cap for the coming seasons unless bonus money is spread out over 5-years. In this case the Jets void 3 years, and they have 3 years to make the gamble payoff before a $35M cap hit comes in the void year of 2026 and Rodgers is not under contract anymore.

 

In a younger players contract a $35M cap hit might mean time to extend them to lower the cap hit, or they are worth it given the age. But you don't ideally do that for someone at that point that is age 42. 

 

So, it kind of makes sense for maybe a couple guys in the league and a couple teams. But I don't think it made much sense for the Ravens to do this for Beckham, especially when no one else was calling him. He's not the guy that puts the team over the top like a Rodgers could have (would have) done for the Jets. This is basically going to be the Ray Rice or Earl Thomas dead money type of penalty. Or as I'm calling it, the Lamar Jackson Extension Tax. 

 

If the Jets win a SB, the $35M "tax" is well worth it. Especially 3 years from now when the cap is that much higher. To do it for one year, the next year, is pretty dumb.  

Voidable years aren't new things; they've been around since the advent of the cap back in the early to mid-nineties.

 

Teams really began using them again in 2021 when the cap dropped precipitously due to lost revenues during covid. That left a lot of cash-strapped clubs looking for ways to create space. I agree that this probably wasn't the best way to do business with Beckham since teams weren't exactly knocking down the door to get him, but that signing was as much about Lamar as it was about OBJ. He wanted the Ravens to bring in both Hopkins and Beckham; the Ravens' brass told him that one or the other might be possible, but not both.

 

As you said, the Beckham deal was largely the Lamar Extension Tax. When Beckham signed, Lamar still had yet to sign the franchise tender. This contract was as much about getting Lamar back into the fold as it was getting Beckham into a Ravens' uniform. When I first heard of the Beckham deal, I thought it was a huge overpay, but still just a one-year deal. What I didn't realize was how much of his money was in the form of a signing bonus, not straight salary. Thus the voidable years. I'm not sure what their exact cap situation was at the time, but I doubt if the Ravens could have made it work had they done it any other way. 

 

If it's the right player, it's not a bad move. Tampa did the same thing with Brady in 2021 and reportedly saved some $19 million off their cap for that season. For a team looking to run back their Super Bowl squad of the previous year, it was probably the only way they could keep that team largely intact.