Jansen's Future in Doubt?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

Correct if I wrong, but I thought in order to get a decent amount of cap relief in a restructuring deal you have to extend a contract by a couple of years. You will not get much relief if you keep the same amount of money over the same amount of time. You might get relief for the first year, but you will have even a worse problem the next year unless you extend the contract. If extending the length of the contract is needed, not every player will want that. That is where sweetening the deal or enticement comes into play.
Either way at some point the bonus money has to count against the cap. Pay me now or pay me later, the Skins will have to dedicate signing bonus money to the cap sooner or later.
I do not like this game of hide and seek with the cap. We were a below .500 team in 2006 and we are over the cap. Not very good player or money management skills.
Some are so in awe over Snyder and his cap skills. I frankly think it is not a very good example how to run a successful NFL team. The proof was on the field in 2006.

You are wrong in a general sense, but right when it comes to Jansen, and I didn't think of this before, so I beg your pardon.

You don't always have to extend a contract to get cap relief. Let's continue with the example of converting $4 million from base salary into signing bonus. If the player has 4 years left on the deal, then that signing bonus allocates out to $1 million per season. So you took that $4 million and reduced it down to $1 million in the present year, saving $3 million in cap space. Yes, you'd have to absorb an extra million in each of the future years remaining on the contract.

But Jansen is only signed through 2008 (two more years), so taking that $4 million, we'd spread the hit over only 2 years. This would make his cap figure drop by $2 million this season, but increase by $2 million next season. At that point his 2008 cap figure would be high: $8.3 million. And the team likely doesn't want to do that. You're right, they're probably trying to think about extending him. And that could get hairy. And since they could save $2.6 million in cap space by cutting him this season, they are probably in position to let Jansen bring his price down (and if he doesn't, just cut him).

Thanks for keeping me on my Ps and Qs when it comes to Jansen. Now I can definitely see how the team may run into a problem with him. He might want a big bonus to extend, and the team might not like that idea. I can definitely see how it'd get sticky. (public apology and retraction of my previous criticism of LaCanfora goes here).

After thinking on the cap situation further, definitely seems like a real possibility Jansen will be gone. It all depends on their ability to agree on reasonable extension terms.

I still don't understand the issues with Springs though.