Originally Posted by Puck (Post 345063)

Ok. Cap money gurus

Can you explain void years ?

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc (Post 345080)

I REALLY hope Pierce can live up to the expectations some people have of him. Dude has never had more than 47 catches in a season.

Pittman had 80,69,109,99, and 88 the last five years.

Those are big shoes to fill.

Originally Posted by sherck (Post 345109)

Well, yes, if DJ plays both years of his 2-year salary.

No if he only plays one year and then the Colts cut him. Then ALL of his pro-rated signing bonus will accellerate into 2027.


As AlwaysSunnyInIndy said, they are a cap tool that teams are using in order to extend the cap hit of signing bonus.

In this case, instead of chunking the $44m signing bonus into only two cap accounting buckets of $22m for 2026 and $22m for 2027, they instead added three "void" years and now split the pro-rated signing bonus into five buckets of $8.8m for 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.

If DJ only plays 1 year of his contract, then the rest of the pro-rated signing bonus ($35.2m) will then accellerate into 2027 as he is now off contract.

If DJ plays both years of his contract, then the rest of the pro-rated signing bonus ($26.4m) will accellerate into 2028 as he is now off contract.

If the Colts re-sign or extend DJ past 2027, then those void years chuncks of pro-rated signing bonuses will still hit in their appropriate year ALONG WITH new pro-rated signing bonus from the new contract.

It is a replacement for signing players to a 5-year contact with both sides KNOWING FULL WELL that it is really only a 2-year contact because it balloons so much that no NFL team will be willing to pay years 3-5.

The player's union sought it as a tool because they wanted to differenate between "real" big contracts (5-year, $250m for QBs) and fake $250m contracts that everyone knew would never get paid out just to move more cap hit from the signing bonus into the future.

And, yes, the Eagles have been using void years for a good decade now in order to keep pushing the cap hits forward into a future where the salary cap keeps growing. Some think that it is the new way to manage caps and if you are good enough at it, then the bills "never" become due.

While I think it a good tool to use here or there, adding void years to almost every veteran contact you sign, IMO, is not the best plan.

Originally Posted by Dam8610 (Post 345118)

Mickey Loomis used it for a decade to completely flaunt the salary cap until the team got bad, then he just ate the charges. Howie Roseman has been structuring everything to come due in 2029, when the new TV deal is signed, which is expected to cause a massive cap jump. I think if managed correctly, void years are a tool that can effectively get around tge salary cap, provided the team owner is liquid enough to support the strategy.

Originally Posted by Dam8610 (Post 345115)

It's an extra year on the contract that spreads the signing bonus out longer. As a 2 year deal with a $44 million signing bonus, there would be a $22 million signing bonus cap hit. By adding 3 void years, the signing bonus is instead spread over 5 years (maximum amortization of a signing bonus), making the cap charge $8.8 million.

Yes, technically there is a $26.4 million dead cap charge in 2028, but realistically, this is a 1 year prove it deal. If he repeats 2025 without getting injured, the Colts will work out a long term extension next offseason. If he flames out, the Colts take a $35.2 million dead cap hit next offseason, which will still save them about $11 million against the cap. If 2026 goes similarly to 2025, the Colts effectively have a somewhat pricey team option to evaluate for 1 more year. This is basically the best of all worlds for the situation the team is facing. They will be able to have their answer on whether or not Jones is the guy before committing to him.

Originally Posted by Dam8610 (Post 345116)

The team is clearly planning to spend high draft capital on a WR since they haven't gotten one in free agency. Omar Cooper Jr., Skyler Bell, or Ted Hurst should be able to fill the WR3 role, and the Colts should be able to get one of them.

Originally Posted by apballin (Post 345126)

Omar Cooper would be great

Originally Posted by sherck (Post 345133)

I really have nothing against paying Jones....except that I don't think he has earned the right to it yet....

Yet being the operative word.

10 games of good to great QB play mixed in with 3 games of stinker play....that is his resume with the Colts.

He could be our next franchise QB and deserving of all the money....

Or he could be the Daniel Jones of the NY Giant years....

I am very, very, very, very (times many) glad that we have set it up that he has to play at least one more full year before we roll up the Brinks money truck and dump it on him.

Not that getting $44m put in your pocket as signing bonus is chump change.

But getting paid that much every year of a long-term contract? Yeah, that is a whole 'nother beast.

This is a good contract for the Colts. If he flames out, and sorry to say I think this is the direction he will go, then after the 2027 season CIG can clean house and start over.

If he succeeds? Then I eat a LOT of crow and the team is all for the better for it.

Originally Posted by sherck (Post 345133)

I really have nothing against paying Jones ....... except for the fact that I don't think that he has earned the right to it yet ......

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 345119)

Yeah it has been a major under utilized tool by Ballard. Like most things, going to the extreme can cause major issues. But using a nearly straight cap allocation and trying to compete against teams pushing money into the future will always put you at a disadvantage. The key is in managing it properly to coincide with your window or other major events. There has to be a plan.