from Agent's TakeJoel Corry
Former sports agent, NFL contracts and salary cap expert for CBS sports[
www.cbssports.com]
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The Chargers' third-overall pick Joey Bosa engaged in the longest contract dispute for an incoming NFL player in 2016 since the rookie wage scale was implemented. Bosa was the first rookie since 2013 that didn't show up to training camp on time. He missed 31 days before signing his contract.
The Chargers and Bosa weren't disagreeing over the amount of money in his contract because the total value was dictated by the rookie wage scale's constraints. The dispute was largely over whether the deal should contain offsets and the payment schedule of his signing bonus. The concession the Chargers made to Bosa was a better payment schedule than they typically give to players with big signing bonuses.
Signing bonuses and offset clauses
Large signing bonuses in NFL contracts are typically paid in installments rather than the player receiving the entire amount upon execution of the agreement. This is a long-accepted practice in the NFL. Signing bonuses for top draft picks are usually paid in two to four installments. For example, 2017 first-overall pick Myles Garrett received $12.25 million of his $20,258,004 signing bonus from the Browns within 30 days of signing his contract. The remaining $8,008,004 was paid Jan. 5.
Payment of the entire signing bonus before the end of a player's rookie season can depend on whether his contract contains offsets. A team generally receives a more favorable signing bonus payment schedule with a significant amount deferred until early in the next calendar year when there aren't any offsets.
An offset clause allows a team to reduce the guaranteed money owed to a player when he is released by the amount of his new deal with another team. The player receives his salary from the team that released him in addition to the full salary from his new contract with another club when there isn't an offset (also known as "double dipping" ).
Agents have essentially lost the battle on offsets. Teams with early first-round picks in 2013 were adamant that contracts contain offsets after largely conceding the issue the previous year. Nearly every team besides the Jaguars and the Rams, who didn't have a first-round pick this year, require offsets with salary guarantees for draft picks. As a compromise, most teams structure deals containing minimum base salaries in the final three years with the remainder of a player's salary in annual fully guaranteed third- or fifth-day-of-training-camp roster bonuses for top 10 picks.
A quarterback has the best chance of extracting a concession on offsets compared to players at other positions. Mitchell Trubisky, the second-overall pick in 2017, signed a deal with the Bears where his $465,000 2017 base salary and training-camp roster bonuses in 2018 through 2020, which contain most of the money in the last three years of his contract, don't have offsets. All of the other Bears first-round picks signed under the rookie wage scale, including 2015 seventh-overall pick Kevin White and 2016 ninth-overall pick Leonard Floyd, have offsets. Expect the Bears to insist that 2018 eighth-overall pick Roquan Smith signs a contract like White's and Floyd's instead of Trubisky's.
It will be interesting to see whether Jacksonville signs 29th-overall pick Taven Bryan to a contract where his salary guarantees have offsets. The Jaguars haven't required offsets for their last six first-round picks, which have all been in the top five of the draft.
The entire contracts of the first 21 picks of the first round were fully guaranteed in 2016 and 2017. The deals for the final 11 picks of the first round were guaranteed for the first three years. A decreasing portion of their fourth-year base salary has been guaranteed as the picks progress. Charles Harris, the No. 22 overall pick in 2017, has 85 percent of his fourth-year salary in 2020 fully guaranteed while 13 percent of 2017 32nd overall pick Ryan Ramczyk's is fully guaranteed.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2018 03:40PM by zn.
