Trent Williams has signed and is practicing today

[Dirtbag59]

I don't think it has anything to do with motivation

Mailbag: Why Not Front-Load Deals In The Uncapped Year?

30 percent rule still looms over uncapped year | ProFootballTalk.com

Can’t a team just front-load a contract to take advantage of the uncapped year?
No, this would be difficult to do. That is because, according to the CBA, any salary decrease of greater than 50% from one year to the next becomes signing bonus and thus is spread out over the life of the deal. For example, if the Patriots signed Vince Wilfork to a deal with a $20M salary in 2010 (uncapped) and a $4M salary in 2011 (capped), then that is a decrease of more than 50% ($10M), that $16M difference would become signing bonus and pro-rated over the life of the deal; if it was a four-year deal, then it would count as $4M/year, so the 2010 cap charge would reduce to $8M ($20M - $16M + $4M), and the 2011-2013 charges would increase by $4M.

The funny thing though about front loading contracts is that I can see guys like Revis making $20 or $30 million dollars in the first year and then a couple year down the road when they're making $3 or $4 million they'll start complaining about how much they're earning. "Man I"m like the best defensive player in the universe and this other guy is making $10 million this year. I wants a new contract. No I don't care if we have to cut a few of my teammates. Show me da money."

This post about front loaded contracts is brought to you by JG Wentworth