So, salary cap gurus (since I'm not anywhere close to a guru nor do I pretend to be), what does this potentially mean for the Skins? Are we aware of this loophole? Could we use it to our benefit this year with any of our current players?
“COMPLETION BONUS” GIVES CAP FLEXIBILITY IN 2009, POSSIBLE SECURITY IN 2010
Posted by Mike Florio on March 21, 2009, 11:01 p.m.
With the intricacies of the last capped year restricting the devices that teams have used in the past to stay on the right side of the per-team spending limit, the New Orleans Saints have developed an innovative way to push money into future years without running afoul of the special accounting rules that apply as the
NFL
transitions to a season without a salary cap in 2010.
But, frankly, we think there’s a deeper motivation at play.
According to Mike Triplett of the
New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Saints are
using “completion bonuses” in 2010 as a tool for giving guaranteed money to players without driving up the 2009 cap numbers arising from their contracts.
Per Triplett, the Saints used a completion bonus in contracts paid to linebacker Jonathan Vilma, tackle Jon Stinchcomb, and cornerback Jabari Greer.
The device provides guaranteed money upon the “completion” of the 2010 season, if the players don’t skip or otherwise miss any mandatory team activities during the 2010 season.
One league source believes that the real aim of the completion bonus is to protect teams against holdouts or other player misbehavior. If the motivation was cap compliance, teams would still be able to use option bonuses with a non-exercise fee in the form of guaranteed base salaries.
The only difference is that a 2010 option bonus would most likely require option bonuses in future years, due to the rule prohibiting an increase in base salary of more than 30 percent in an uncapped year.
But, frankly, it’s an easy thing to do.
A league source tells us that the possible application of the
Ashley Lelie grievance was discussed during one or more of the negotiations resulting in the use of completion bonuses by the Saints. Though a player’s entitlement to a completion bonus would likely be subject to the grievance process if, for example, he is suspended for violating the substance abuse policy and then gets stiffed out of the bonus, it seems fairly clear to us that the Saints believe that they’ve found a way to ensure that money isn’t “earned” until the player completes the season in which the completion bonus is to be paid.