Schmidt thinks the Rams will sign Hunter to a three-year, $63 million deal that features $41.5 million in guaranteed money.
Here's a way to do that to minimize the cap hi in 2024: $20M signing bonus with void years in 2027 & 2028 structured like this.
2024: $2.5M salary, $4M pro rated signing bonus = $6.5M cap hit
2025: $19M salary, $4M pro rated signing bonus = $23M cap hit
2026: $21.5M salary, $4M pro rated signing bonus = $25.5M cap hit
2027: $0 salary, $4M pro rated signing bonus = $4M cap hit
2028: $0 salary, $4M pro rated signing bonus = $4M cap hit
Pay the signing bonus and guarantee the salary in '24 & '25 - that's $41.5M guaranteed.
This deal would result in $8M in dead money in 2027 when the cap is expected to be $314M 2027 [
overthecap.com] .
**OR** The Rams could cut or trade him after the 2025 season and the deal essentially becomes two years for $41.5M (with $12M of that expense deferred to 2026 as dead money when the cap is expected to be $284M [
overthecap.com] .)
AlbaNY_Ram
