Seems well played. I'm glad he was willing to push off that measly $28 million or so until next year. No biggie. Meh.
Dolphins had a lot of cap space next season, even before cutting all the people they cut. Not worried.
They must have something really fancy up their sleeves with RT, Pouncey, Miller, ect coming up for 2016 too. Perhaps doing something along the same lines with RT, dumping his big hit year into 2017.
lol.. This is the Wallace effect. Massive cap hit for one player in one year forcing similar contracts to other players in subsequent years? Let's see how far this domino effect goes!
So it's not really 60 million guaranteed the first 3 years like it first reported? Most of it is signing bonus which he will have to earn through the five years of his contract... that's good.. I'm sure we will be able to restructure that contract after year 3
Keep in mind that there is a big increase across the league expected in 2016, so this was actually shrewd negotiating: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10532044/the-nfl-salary-cap-break-150-million-2016
dolphins had something like 40 mil to spend going into next year(pre suh signing, cuts, restructures etc) and with another increase coming for 2016 you minds well take the biggest hit when you have the most money.
2016 is also the year that Tannehill, Pouncey, Clay, Vernon, will need new deals. It's going to be a serious challenge.
Wallace, Wake and Ellerbe cap hits for 2016 account for over $31 million. Not to mention another $8.25M from Jones if necessary. Extending Tannehill, Pouncey and Vernon not going to be easy though. Gonna have to make some sacrifices.
All that projected cap space is due in large part to Tannehill, Vernon, Pouncey, and Miller not having contracts on the books in 2016. You hand out extensions to Tannehill and Pouncey, add in Suh and that cap space goes bye-bye in a hurry.
Until we signed Suh...the only player that was signed into 2018 was Albert. 2017 wasn't much better as most of those contracts were going away. So they can sign these guys..it's just a matter of: A) Figuring out who truly is part of your core for the next 4-5 years and moving on from those that will command more money then they are worth. B) Contract structure C) Moving on from Wallace, Wake, Ellerbe etc. In fact it may be prudent to find a LT replacement to take over for Albert in the next couple seasons. D) Since there are only a couple players signed into 2018. Drafting becomes a priority for the next few years as you'll have to maximize lower cost players to mix around your core.
Usually contracts are backloaded. It shouldn't be super difficult. Clay may not even be on the roster and Vernon hasn't earned a substantial payday anyway.
Agents have caught on to backloaded contracts. If Clay's worth 7+ million then Vernon may be worth 8-9. Hickey has his work cut out for him.
What has Vernon done to earn 8-9? His pass rushing efficiency isn't very good. He had one fluke season of coverage sacks. Despite Vernon's double digit sack totals, Dion Jordan graded higher in his rookie season in PRE. If someone pays 8-9 million for his services, it had better not be Miami... Let him go ala Kenny Mixon and Lorenzo Bromell. As far as agents catching on to back loaded deals, that's standard operating procedure. Salaries escalate year to year generally. Because the NFL doesn't fully guarantee contracts, teams don't want to overpay if things don't work out. Front loading contracts also presents a problem for teams when in the later years of a contract, players want to hold out for more (Lance Briggs for example). I don't see that changing or being a problem. Guaranteed money is far more important as well. As long as that number is right, agents will be flexible on the details.
If we can make it through next year, we will be fine. We can cut him after 2017 without enormous consequences if we have to. 2016 is looking like a tough cap year for us though, and we have guys like Tannehill, Miller, and Vernon coming up on paydays.
60 million guaranteed, looking at the numbers posted they don't seem correct Here's how Suh's contract, the richest ever for a defensive tackle, is structured: In 2015, Suh gets a $25.5 million signing bonus and $985,000 base salary that's fully guaranteed. In 2016, Suh has a base salary of $23.485 million that's fully guaranteed. In 2017, Suh has a base salary of $9.985 million that's fully guaranteed. In 2018, Suh has a $16.985 million base salary, of which $8.5 million becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year. In 2019, Suh has an $18.985 million base salary, of which $9.5 million becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year. In 2020, Suh has an $18.36 million base salary, of which $8.5 million becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year. Suh also has $15,000 workout bonuses every year. In Detroit, he participated in most OTAs and mandatory minicamps, but did not take part in early off-season workouts or last year's voluntary minicamp. Suh has a signing bonus each year of 5,100,000, spread out over 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. Cap hit is a s follows: 2015 6,085,000 2016 28,600,000 2017 15,100,000 2018 22,100,000 2019 24,100,000 2020 18,375,000