(09-08-2023, 11:08 AM)The Real Marty Wrote:

(09-08-2023, 10:16 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: No - less money isn't the thing. He'll get paid big unless something catastrophic happens this season. 

It will be a longer than normal term contract (6 to 10 years)  with flexibility written in so they can be creative about moving his money around from year to year to protect their cap (so they can keep/add other talent)

That's the home town discount we get from Trev. Flexibility about how and when he gets paid so we aren't in a bind so badly. The guarantee will be large, the structure will be a bit unique.

The interesting thing is, if you give the guy a contract that says, 5 years, 250 million, for example, 50 million per year, the team can just declare any of those years to be a bonus and spread the cap hit among the remaining years, without even having to have Trevor's approval.  The reason they don't need the player's approval is because the player gets his bonus up front instead of weekly during the season throughout the year.  There is no sacrifice by the player.  He gets paid faster, and the team gets to spread out the cap hit among the remaining years of the contract.  

This is why all the hand-wringing about how we're going to have to cut players next year is misguided.  Trevor's cap hit will be lower in the first years of the new contract than it is this year.  Same deal with Calvin Ridley.  His cap hit with a new contract will be lower next season than it is this season.

The player does have to agree to the contract structure, and no, the team can't just declare part of the salary as a bonus after the fact.

That would be a restructure, and while it does happen, it usually comes with some give to offset the take. Say, an added year on the deal, some extra guarantees, etc. that would incentivize the player to re-do the deal. Nothing comes for free. 

I think the guarantees in the deal speak more than the bonuses - guarantees ensure that the team is going to honor the middle years more than they might if it were only bonus-heavy; additionally that's the point when team and player tend to reevaluate whether the player merits a renegotiation to extend the contract or alter the remaining salary structure to lessen the blow of the original deal. We might see 300 mil, no telling. But I fully expect his guarantees to exceed Watson (230M), who is currently the top in that category.

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