Some one splain this to me please. Im not a Pro fan

[olevetonahill]

Ive heard that the Rams are gonna want Sam to take a Pay cut or they gonna cut him loose.

Yet hes owed sompun like 13 million on his contract. How in hell does that work?
if its guaranteed how can they get out of paying him?

[SoonerorLater]

My understanding is that all of Bradford,s guaranteed money has been paid already. At this point the Rams can either pay him what his contract says for the next year or if they choose not to then Bradford could become a free agent and walk. They also could try to trade him but they would be on the hook for some some of his salary or try to get him to voluntarily renegotiate his contract.

Maybe somebody else could provide better details. Football contracts aren't like baseball or NBA.

[olevetonahill]

My understanding is that all of Bradford,s guaranteed money has been paid already. At this point the Rams can either pay him what his contract says for the next year or if they choose not to then Bradford could become a free agent and walk. They also could try to trade him but they would be on the hook for some some of his salary or try to get him to voluntarily renegotiate his contract.

Maybe somebody else could provide better details. Football contracts aren't like baseball or NBA.

Ok that makes sense. Hard to believe hes been gone as long as he has,

[badger]

My understanding is that all of Bradford,s guaranteed money has been paid already.
And of course "contract" is used loosely in pro sports, especially in the NFL, where money is not fully guaranteed. However, Sam would probably get some type of injury settlement if he was cut before the end of his contract.

Sam is honorable and everyone likes him, so I fully expect him to want to prove himself with the franchise that drafted him and do what it takes to stay with the Rams, or at least give it another offseason shot and if they trade or cut him? At least he tried to work with them.

[#8soon]

Ive heard that the Rams are gonna want Sam to take a Pay cut or they gonna cut him loose.

Yet hes owed sompun like 13 million on his contract. How in hell does that work?
if its guaranteed how can they get out of paying him?

Here's a great site that keeps up with all that. http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/st.-louis-rams/cap/

Like soonerorlater said, its not like the other 2 big sports.

[badger]

$14,015,000 $3,595,000 - - - - - ($7,190,000) $17,610,000
First number is salary; second number is signing bonus (NFL splits that up over the life of the contract so players get money immediately but the team doesn't take the hit to the salary cap immediately unless player's cut).

Third is dead money (what it would cost to cut him) and fourth is the cap hit if everything stays the same :eek:

It's a $10 million difference right now between dead money number and salary cap number. That's why the Rams and Sam needs to bring the salary number down.

[8timechamps]

Sam hasn't received all of his guaranteed money yet, in fact, he's still owed about $40 million.

The reason they want Sam to take a pay cut is so they can utilize some of that money elsewhere, and they can't do that unless Sam agree's to the change. If Sam say's "no", then they can go ahead and cut him, but they would owe him the remainder of his contract.

And badg, you're a little off on how the signing bonus works. In Sam's case, they use a portion of the signing bonus to apply some of his guaranteed money. But, you're right that it's basically a method to manage the cap.

I'm sure the Rams would love for Sam to renegotiate, but Sam holds all the cards right now.

[Aries]

They can cut him and would not owe him the full salary for 2015, but there would be a cap hit i.e. the "dead money" referred to above.

I never saw an article but someone referred to one in which Fisher supposedly said he wants to keep Sam at "the right price". My best guess is, they will try to renegotiate Sam's contract. I suspect Sam is open to that if they don't try to cut it back too much. If they don't, my feeling is a renegotiated contract is a possibility. If they do, he will likely let them cut him and then he is free to sign with another team.

[freshchris05]

That Bradford kid owes me five bucks.

[olevetonahill]

I dint really want to get into specifics cause I dont really GAS, I was just curious about Sams Deal.
If they still owe him 40 million of the Guaranteed 50. and Cut him they still have to pay him the Balance dont they?

Basically Im axin if They cut Sam will he get his Money?

[8timechamps]

They can cut him and would not owe him the full salary for 2015, but there would be a cap hit i.e. the "dead money" referred to above.

I never saw an article but someone referred to one in which Fisher supposedly said he wants to keep Sam at "the right price". My best guess is, they will try to renegotiate Sam's contract. I suspect Sam is open to that if they don't try to cut it back too much. If they don't, my feeling is a renegotiated contract is a possibility. If they do, he will likely let them cut him and then he is free to sign with another team.

You are right, unless it's specified otherwise in his contract. The Rams will owe him money, even if he's cut, the amount is the question. If the Rams are looking to manage cap space, and Sam isn't willing to renegotiate (and he probably would), they could find a suitor and trade him (which could end up being a better deal). If he gets cut outright, he's a portion (or all) of the guarantee will still apply to the cap. There's no real reason to think there would be a provision in Sam's contract (that would allocate anything above the dead money), but it's also not unheard of, Peyton Manning is a prime example.

[8timechamps]

I dint really want to get into specifics cause I dont really GAS, I was just curious about Sams Deal.
If they still owe him 40 million of the Guaranteed 50. and Cut him they still have to pay him the Balance dont they?

Basically Im axin if They cut Sam will he get his Money?

Doubtful.

To keep it simple, they would probably owe him about $17 million (minimum). Not a bad payday.

I think they're more than likely going to keep him this year, and if things don't work out, look to move him after next season. Either way, they'll be asking him to restructure his contract so they can free up funds for other players.

[olevetonahill]

Then whats all the Big whoop over a guaranteed 50 Mil. Why bother?

[SoonerorLater]

I remembered reading it somewhere before. I don't think it his is it but it says all guaranteed money has been paid to to Bradford. This was even prior to this season

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2014/1/23/5303742/sam-bradfords-2014-salary-cap-hit-can-it-be-lowered

This is the structure of his contract

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/st.-louis-rams/sam-bradford/

[olevetonahill]

I remembered reading it somewhere before. I don't think it his is it but it says all guaranteed money has been paid to to Bradford. This was even prior to this season

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2014/1/23/5303742/sam-bradfords-2014-salary-cap-hit-can-it-be-lowered

This is the structure of his contract

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/st.-louis-rams/sam-bradford/

Thanks bro. Thats all I wanted to know, He got his and they can Kiss it, I hope he does go elsewhere. Unless they have gotten a Line to protect him and some one who can catch.

[8timechamps]

I remembered reading it somewhere before. I don't think it his is it but it says all guaranteed money has been paid to to Bradford. This was even prior to this season

http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2014/1/23/5303742/sam-bradfords-2014-salary-cap-hit-can-it-be-lowered

This is the structure of his contract

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/st.-louis-rams/sam-bradford/

There's your answer.

Looking at the contract, and reading the article is confusing. Apparently, Sam's contract was front end loaded and he's already received his guaranteed amount. However, when you look at the way Spotrac has it listed, it's different.

The bottom line appears to be Sam has his money, so whatever the Rams decide, he's already gotten paid. I'd like to see Sam get a shot somewhere else (a team that has the pieces around him), like Arizona. It would be nice to see what he could do with a good supporting cast.

[bluedogok]

I think it was front loaded because he was drafted in the last season of the huge rookie contracts. They weren't sure about what the new salary cap was going to be under the new CBA so they front loaded it.

[swardboy]

Fisher has never said, "for the right price." That was in a headline to an article, but not in the body of Fisher's comments. So some author or editor put that phrase in the title.

Fisher's stance is pro-Sam, he'll be back next year. Sam may re-negotiate the final year numbers to help out the team as far as retaining/acquiring more players, like Brady did at New England. The Rams may put it together next year for a playoff run. My opinion is that Sam wants that more than money right now.

[badger]

Yeah, Sam's contract may seem weird because it was the final year before there was a slotted scale for rookies. It was designed with both teams and veteran players in mind, under theory that if teams didn't spend all of their money on rookies, they'd spend it on vets instead.

Well, at least the quarterbacks are making off like bandits even if the veteran other-position guys still get cut en masse :P

[humblesooner]

Basically, what you will hear is something like the contract was for 5 years and $100 Million, with $50 Million guaranteed.
What that means is, the signing bonus is $50 Million, which is paid at the signing.
The remaining $50 Million is spread over 5 years of non-guaranteed contract.
Doesn't have to be $10 Million per year, but for these purposes, let's say that is the way it is.
If the player plays two years and turns out to be a bust, the team can release him without paying years 3, 4 and 5.
So the player has made $70 Million.

For salary cap purposes, the same $50 Million guaranteed (signing bonus) is spread evenly over the 5 year contract. This is for accounting purposes only. The player still has the $50 million in the bank. The team is charged for $20 Million the first year ($10 Million of signing bonus and $10 million of salary). Same for the second year. When the player is released early, accounting-wise, the balance of his signing bonus is applied to the team's current salary cap. It does not still get spread over the original 5 years. There are some timing issues on the release that would allow the team to spread the remainder over two NFL calendar years if he is released on the right date. Again, this helps them with their overall salary cap figure for specific years.