Salary Cap Shenanigans

PaulMaul

What with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady both taking salary cuts to improve their teams' cap situation, it occurred to me that this kind of thing really undermines the purpose of a salary cap.

Teams with huge superstars (Lebron, Brady, etc.) need an advantage less than anyone. But having players that earn 5 times more off the field/court than they do on it creates a situation where those players could easily absorb huge pay cuts with little effect, thus giving their team an unfair advantage.

Granted, not too many players seem eager to do this, but is it a concern for salary caps going forward?

bronco2078

Football salary cap has been a joke for quite a while now. Peyton took a salary cut because he is awful not so much to help the team. It was that or get fired

perkdog

It should be no concern at all, if a player takes a pay cut then thats completely up to him and it should be looked at as a good character move, doing it for the better of the "Team" .

jdip9

<<<Football salary cap has been a joke for quite a while now.>>>

I don't think it is a joke, it's just that teams have gotten so much better at managing it. Beyond that, with a rising cap, and salaries that adjust slower to that rising cap, there is less danger of falling into "cap jail". Teams are still forced to make decisions on players due to the cap, though. Steelers and Ravens in recent years come to mind.

As for players taking a "pay cut" to help their teams - this is why the NFL players union is the weakest union in all of sports. MLBPA doesn't allow players to take pay cuts. I don't think it is a concern for caps, because like you said, you can probably count on two hands the number of players that are willing to take a meaningful discount that will help the team.

DIMEMAN

I'm totally against the salary cap. It's just a stupid communistic attempt to keep the good teams down with the "also ran's"! Should be done away with!!!

Just like the revenue sharing crap! The "also ran's" couldn't stand it that the BIG popular teams sold mort sports stuff. Now everytime a Cowboy sports anything is sold.......all the "also ran's" get a part of it.

Boo Hoo! for the "also ran's!!!

grote15

A main component of the NFL's thriving popularity and success (from which even the wealthiest teams benefit) is due to the competitiveness of the league eaxh season. Yet Dimeman wants to abolish that? Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

DIMEMAN

Come on Grote - You know as well as I that the only reason it is so competitive is because the cap holds the big teams back. Yes, I would rather have it the way it was before the when the Cowboy's were on top with the rest of the big teams.

grote15

Good thing you're not commissioner. You might be the only person to make the NFL less profitable and less successful.

bronco2078

<< <i>Come on Grote - You know as well as I that the only reason it is so competitive is because the cap holds the big teams back. Yes, I would rather have it the way it was before the when the Cowboy's were on top with the rest of the big teams. >>





What the cowboys need to be great again is a way around the Jerry Jones cap.

WhiteTornado

I don't think guys like Manning and Brady actually take any pay cuts, the teams just shift it around. So, a player due to make $15M this season might restructure and sign a new deal that pays him $5M right away as a signing bonus (does not count against the cap) and $10M in salary. And I could be wrong, but usually these restructured contracts extend beyond the current deal, so the team does sort of kick the can down the road in terms of a "day of financial reckoning". Eventually it catches up to them which is why you see big names cut or traded each year now.

I believe there is also a salary floor, which is why schmoe teams like the Jags and Raiders must spend $50-60M and can't just pocket it all.

DIMEMAN

There shouldn't be a cap or a floor......spend what you have a can afford.

Sorta like you run your household!