Prescott signs new contract 😳

[CaliEagle]

4 hours ago, Gch said:

I agree, Dak is not worth that contract. I have been reading all over the NFL websites tell JJ to sign Dak and give him the money so it’s done but unless he wins a SB it won’t be worth it. 
I do respect Brady for always taking the team first approach when it comes to money. But I’m sure it doesn’t hurt when your wife makes as much or more then you do. 

I think the philosophy on QBs is going to change pretty soon in that I think teams are going to be more willing to risk letting QBs go after their rookie deals to avoid paying these huge contracts to QBs that aren't top 5 QBs in the NFL.  The Eagles got burned with Wentz and part of that was their own doing.  But, I think teams are going to want to see at least two years of top 5 QB play before rewarding QBs with these kinds of deals. If that deal haunts Dallas, then I think teams will start seeing how Wentz, Dak and some of these other QBs are not worth these mammoth deals.  I think teams will eventually gamble that a new rookie QB might have more upside and be worth the risk vs. gambling on the continued development of a slightly above average QB after 4 to 5 years.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

HA! Sorry but that's an awful contract. Dak is a decent QB but he's not elite.

[paco]

If anyone cares, part deux

  

On 3/8/2021 at 8:58 PM, paco said:

This is what is interesting.....

 

It's a 4 year contract extension.  And he was on the franchise tag last year.  Therefore he would be under contract from 2021-2024 and an UDFA in 2025.  

 

Sporttrac does not have numbers yet.  But they do have the following (empty) table

 

 

If I were to GUESS, I bet you Dallas did two things.  

1) Give him an obscenely low base salary this year and next.  The bulk of his base salary will be in 23 and 24

2) Pull a Howie and built in void years in 25 and 26, thus lowering his cap hit over the 4 years and taking a dead hit in 25.  (Detailed bonus info isn't available from what I've seen, but the signing bonus was 66 million.  So If they did that, the signing bonus would account for 11 million each of the 4 years and 22 in the voided year)

 

If this is the case, this makes a TON of sense because his contract is modeled around the upcoming TV deal.  Dak is happy because he gets paid.  Dallas will be happy because his contract will be relative to the cap (and projected increase).

 

Of course, this is speculation on my part, because we don't have any numbers and I'm just some idiot fan who obsesses over the cap making a wild guess.  But if I am on track and it plays out that way..... and Dak stays healthy..... and COVID has little to no effect on the upcoming season..... This will end up looking like a reasonable contract.  

 

So, it looks like I wasn't too far off.  They did in fact give two void years.  What's interesting is that it is currently showing up as a 13.2 mill per year for the signing bonus, with $0 on the second void year which is in place to allow for a 2022 base salary to be restructured. Edit: Makes sense since you can only prorate over 5 years, as discussed below.

What does that mean?  Well currently his guaranteed money is his signing bonus, his 2021 salary and his 2022 salary.  The second void year is put in place in case they want to convert that guaranteed salary into a signing bonus to spread that over the cap, should they need to (and looking at their upcoming cap situation, they may very well will).

 

I was also correct that the base salary balloons quite a bit after the first two years.  It's 9 million this year, 20 million next year (thus the need to potentially convert his 2022 salary), and then 31 million in 2023.  2024 it drops slightly to 29 million, still a huge chunk.  68% percent of his base salary are in the final two years.

 

Two minor things to note:

1) 2023 is *Technically* the first year they can release him and get cap relief.  He will have a whopping $44.2 million dollar cap hit that year and a $39.6 million dead cap hit.  So if they cut him, that will be a $4.6 million dollar savings.  However, if they convert his base salary to a signing bonus in 2022, which I believe is very likely, that will add an additional hit.  How much is TBD, but lets say they reduce his base salary to 2 million with that restructure, that would tack on an additional $3.6 million and basically wiping out any savings.  So 2024 is likely the first year they could move on.

2) He is also due a roster bonus of $5 million in 2024.  In the past I wouldn't even care about this, but we saw how important that became when it came to deciding how to move forward with Carson.  

[Dawkins 20]

So if they restructure his base in 2022 like your example shows ($20mill down to $2mill base + $18 mill signing bonus) and assuming everything else stays the same, the Cowboys will have a 2025 dead cap hit on Prescott alone of approximately $33.6 million:

• 2025 Portion of Original Prorated Signing Bonus $13.2m
• 2026 Portion of Original Prorated Signing Bonus $13.2m
• 2025 Restructured Portion of 2022 Base $3.6m
• 2026 Restructured Portion of 2022 Base $3.6m

I know the new TV deal will be in place by then, but when did the Cowboys hire Howie Roseman?

[paco]

34 minutes ago, Dawkins 20 said:

So if they restructure his base in 2022 like your example shows ($20mill down to $2mill base + $18 mill signing bonus) and assuming everything else stays the same, the Cowboys will have a 2025 dead cap hit on Prescott alone of approximately $33.6 million:

• 2025 Portion of Original Prorated Signing Bonus $13.2m
• 2026 Portion of Original Prorated Signing Bonus $13.2m
• 2025 Restructured Portion of 2022 Base $3.6m
• 2026 Restructured Portion of 2022 Base $3.6m

I know the new TV deal will be in place by then, but when did the Cowboys hire Howie Roseman?

Not quite.  There is no 2026 13.2 hit from what I can see.  It appears to be an empty void year built in to do the 2022 restructure.  So his 2025 dead cap hit would be $20.4 million.  (Being that said, I don't know if that causes the old prorated signing bonus to now prorate across 2026.  I don't think so but to be honest, I'm not clear on how that may change if at all)

 

This is what I am looking at.

 

YEAR		AGE	BASE SALARY	SIGNING	ROSTER	CAP HIT	DEAD CAP	YEARLY CASH
2021		28	$9,000,000	$13,200,000	-	$22,200,000	$95,000,000	$75,000,000($75,000,000)
2022		29	$20,000,000	$13,200,000	-	$33,200,000	$72,800,000	$20,000,000($95,000,000)
2023		30	$31,000,000	$13,200,000	-	$44,200,000	$39,600,000	$31,000,000($126,000,000)
POTENTIAL OUT: 2024, 3 YR, $126,000,000; $26,400,000 DEAD CAP
2024		31	$29,000,000	$13,200,000	$5,000,000	$47,200,000	$26,400,000	$34,000,000($160,000,000)
2025		32	-	$13,200,000	-	$13,200,000	$13,200,000	-
2026		33	-	-	-	-	-	-
2025		34	UFA

[Dawkins 20]

1 minute ago, paco said:

Not quite.  There is no 2026 13.2 hit from what I can see.  It appears to be an empty void year built in to do the 2022 restructure.  So his 2025 dead cap hit would be $20.4 million.  (Being that said, I don't know if that causes the old prorated signing bonus to now prorate across 2026.  I don't think so but to be honest, I'm not clear on how that may change if at all)

 

This is what I am looking at.

 

YEAR		AGE	BASE SALARY	SIGNING	ROSTER	CAP HIT	DEAD CAP	YEARLY CASH
2021		28	$9,000,000	$13,200,000	-	$22,200,000	$95,000,000	$75,000,000($75,000,000)
2022		29	$20,000,000	$13,200,000	-	$33,200,000	$72,800,000	$20,000,000($95,000,000)
2023		30	$31,000,000	$13,200,000	-	$44,200,000	$39,600,000	$31,000,000($126,000,000)
POTENTIAL OUT: 2024, 3 YR, $126,000,000; $26,400,000 DEAD CAP
2024		31	$29,000,000	$13,200,000	$5,000,000	$47,200,000	$26,400,000	$34,000,000($160,000,000)
2025		32	-	$13,200,000	-	$13,200,000	$13,200,000	-
2026		33	-	-	-	-	-	-
2025		34	UFA

Is there a 5 year limit on the amortization of signing bonuses? I forget all of the rules. That would make sense if there's no $13.2 hit in 2026.

[paco]

39 minutes ago, Dawkins 20 said:

Is there a 5 year limit on the amortization of signing bonuses? I forget all of the rules. That would make sense if there's no $13.2 hit in 2026.

Good question since I wasn't 100% sure either.    Looks like you are dead on.

Quote

VOID YEARS

Another term you’ll see a lot this offseason is void years. Void years are dummy contract years that do not truly exist, as in the player is not actually under contract for those seasons. They serve as a placeholder for prorated money. Because a team can prorate money up to a maximum of five years, if the player’s current contract only had three years remaining, the team may seek to add void years onto the end of the deal to make the prorated bonus amounts even smaller. 

The process of clearing cap space is the same as the above example with Eddie Jackson, but because there are more years to push prorated money into, you can clear even more room in the current year. The Eagles reportedly did this with cornerback Darius Slay already, and here is what his deal now looks like:

Year	Base Salary	Prorated Bonus	Workout Bonus	Gtd. Salary	Cap #	Dead Money
2020	$1.05M	$3.25M	$0	$1.05M	$4.3M	—
2021	$1.075M	$5.525M	$0	$0	$6.61M	$23.175M
2022	$16M	$5.525M	$500K	$2M	$22.035M	$17.64M
2023	$17M	$5.525M	$500K	$0	$23.035M	$10.105M
2024	VOID	$2.285M	VOID	VOID	$4.57M	$4.57M
2025	VOID	$2.285M	VOID	VOID	$5.535M	$2.285M

*Darius Slay contract info via Over The Cap

 

That explains nicely why his signing bonus doesnt go into the empty void year.  Thank you.

[Dawkins 20]

Well that makes a lot more sense now.

I probably should've picked up on that ($13.2m x 5 = $66m... duh) but it was the end of the work day and I was way too lazy to do more math. 

[TheCorpseGroom]

Here's the crazy number in all of this

Offense Total Salary: $136,097,840

Defense Total Salary: $66,000,026

[paco]

6 hours ago, TheCorpseGroom said:

Here's the crazy number in all of this

Offense Total Salary: $136,097,840

Defense Total Salary: $66,000,026

And they are one of the most top heavy teams on top of that:

ACTIVE PLAYERS (64)	POS.	BASE SALARY	SIGNING BONUS	ROSTER BONUS	OPTION BONUS	WORKOUT BONUS	RESTRUC. BONUS	MISC.	DEAD CAP	CAP HIT	CAP %
DeMarcus Lawrence	DE	$17,000,000	$5,000,000	-	-	-	$3,000,000	-	($44,000,000)	$25,000,000	11.77
Dak Prescott	QB	$9,000,000	$13,200,000	-	-	-	-	-	($95,000,000)	$22,200,000	10.45
Amari Cooper	WR	$20,000,000	$2,000,000	-	-	-	-	-	($28,000,000)	$22,000,000	10.35
Zack Martin	G	$11,000,000	$4,000,000	-	-	-	$2,018,000	-	($16,072,000)	$17,018,000	8.01
Tyron Smith	LT	$10,500,000	-	-	-	-	$3,525,000	-	($8,865,000)	$14,025,000	6.60
Ezekiel Elliott	RB	$9,600,000	$1,500,000	-	$2,600,000	-	-	-	($24,500,000)	$13,700,000	6.45
La'el Collins	RT	$8,550,000	$1,800,000	-	$700,000	-	$1,000,000	-	($12,200,000)	$12,050,000	5.67
Jaylon Smith	ILB	$7,200,000	$1,000,000	-	$1,600,000	-	-	-	($9,400,000)	$9,800,000	4.61
Anthony Brown	CB	$4,250,000	$1,500,000	-	-	-	-	-	($3,000,000)	$5,750,000	2.71
Blake Jarwin	TE	$3,500,000	$1,000,000	$46,875	-	-	-	-	($3,000,000)	$4,546,875	2.14
Leighton Vander Esch	OLB	$2,095,606	$1,674,142	-	-	-	-	-	($1,674,142)	$3,769,748	1.77
CeeDee Lamb	WR	$1,246,819	$1,937,275	-	-	-	-	-	($11,462,737)	$3,184,094	1.50
Connor Williams	G	$2,443,000	$517,998	-	-	-	-	-	($517,998)	$2,960,998	1.39
Greg Zuerlein	K	$2,250,000	$333,333	$250,000	-	-	-	-	($666,667)	$2,833,333	1.33
Michael Gallup	WR	$2,443,000	$222,495	-	-	-	-	-	($222,495)	$2,665,495	1.25
Chris Jones	P	$2,000,000	$500,000	-	-	-	-	-	($500,000)	$2,500,000	1.18
Dalton Schultz	TE	$2,183,000	$113,092	-	-	-	-	-	($113,092)	$2,296,092	1.08

 

To your point, only three players on the defense has a cap hit above 2 million.  Everyone else on their defense makes less than their kicker and punter

[EricAllenPick6]

The thing that I find odd about this is that many teams in recent years have won championships with a lot of young / cheap talent.  Dallas is not going with that model _at all_.  

[EaglesRocker97]

On 3/8/2021 at 7:16 PM, Sturm said:

126 mil fully guaranteed for 1 playoff win.

My god the amount of money these players make is insane.

The bubble's gotta burst sooner or later.

[EaglesRocker97]

 

On 3/8/2021 at 7:49 PM, CaliEagle said:

The NFC East is a crapshoot, literally...

 

 

On 3/8/2021 at 7:52 PM, EagleJoe8 said:

Crapshoot or crapfest?  

 

 

[TheCorpseGroom]

12 hours ago, paco said:

And they are one of the most top heavy teams on top of that:

ACTIVE PLAYERS (64)	POS.	BASE SALARY	SIGNING BONUS	ROSTER BONUS	OPTION BONUS	WORKOUT BONUS	RESTRUC. BONUS	MISC.	DEAD CAP	CAP HIT	CAP %
DeMarcus Lawrence	DE	$17,000,000	$5,000,000	-	-	-	$3,000,000	-	($44,000,000)	$25,000,000	11.77
Dak Prescott	QB	$9,000,000	$13,200,000	-	-	-	-	-	($95,000,000)	$22,200,000	10.45
Amari Cooper	WR	$20,000,000	$2,000,000	-	-	-	-	-	($28,000,000)	$22,000,000	10.35
Zack Martin	G	$11,000,000	$4,000,000	-	-	-	$2,018,000	-	($16,072,000)	$17,018,000	8.01
Tyron Smith	LT	$10,500,000	-	-	-	-	$3,525,000	-	($8,865,000)	$14,025,000	6.60
Ezekiel Elliott	RB	$9,600,000	$1,500,000	-	$2,600,000	-	-	-	($24,500,000)	$13,700,000	6.45
La'el Collins	RT	$8,550,000	$1,800,000	-	$700,000	-	$1,000,000	-	($12,200,000)	$12,050,000	5.67
Jaylon Smith	ILB	$7,200,000	$1,000,000	-	$1,600,000	-	-	-	($9,400,000)	$9,800,000	4.61
Anthony Brown	CB	$4,250,000	$1,500,000	-	-	-	-	-	($3,000,000)	$5,750,000	2.71
Blake Jarwin	TE	$3,500,000	$1,000,000	$46,875	-	-	-	-	($3,000,000)	$4,546,875	2.14
Leighton Vander Esch	OLB	$2,095,606	$1,674,142	-	-	-	-	-	($1,674,142)	$3,769,748	1.77
CeeDee Lamb	WR	$1,246,819	$1,937,275	-	-	-	-	-	($11,462,737)	$3,184,094	1.50
Connor Williams	G	$2,443,000	$517,998	-	-	-	-	-	($517,998)	$2,960,998	1.39
Greg Zuerlein	K	$2,250,000	$333,333	$250,000	-	-	-	-	($666,667)	$2,833,333	1.33
Michael Gallup	WR	$2,443,000	$222,495	-	-	-	-	-	($222,495)	$2,665,495	1.25
Chris Jones	P	$2,000,000	$500,000	-	-	-	-	-	($500,000)	$2,500,000	1.18
Dalton Schultz	TE	$2,183,000	$113,092	-	-	-	-	-	($113,092)	$2,296,092	1.08

 

To your point, only three players on the defense has a cap hit above 2 million.  Everyone else on their defense makes less than their kicker and punter

Yeah I noticed Lawrence is 1/3 of the D's salary. Insane. 

[Mortimer]

On 3/8/2021 at 7:16 PM, Sturm said:

126 mil fully guaranteed for 1 playoff win.

My god the amount of money these players make is insane.

Team owners can nip this in the bud by putting a salary cap on individual contracts in the next CBA.   They would have to increase salaries across the board, still spending more money, but the disparity between contracts ( and the huge risk, see Eagles, Texans ) would be kept somewhat in check.   The NFLPA is not only QBs, so they should be able to sell it to the players.