Daniel Jones has signed 2 yr 88m contract

[DragonTails]

Originally Posted by Puck

Ok. Cap money gurus

Can you explain void years ?

I just void in my pants. That's about the only thing I can explain.

I wanted Jones and AP retained and Pitman gone--maybe not at this cost, but I guess that what we're rolling with. Maybe some of the defensive pieces we signed last year will play better.

[YDFL Commish]

So Spotrac lists Jones 2026 cap hit at $14,680,000. Which is 20th among QB's in the NFL. Certainly a number the team can live with and not be hamstrung in free agency.

His 2027 cap hit at $46,800,000, which if he plays well in 2026 may look like a bargain in 2027.

[apballin]

He’s not worth it but it had to be done to retain Pierce so whatever

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Originally Posted by Puck

Ok. Cap money gurus

Can you explain void years ?

It is a salary cap accounting gimmick to free up cap space now (costs are punted into future league years).

Void years are extra years added to the end of a contract to spread out the cap hit of a signing bonus.

The Eagles have built and maintained their roster by repeatedly using void years - they have deferred a ton of spending to future years.

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by apballin

He’s not worth it but it had to be done to retain Pierce so whatever

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.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

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.

Pierce is ascending and he’s ready for a larger role

I believe Warren will get a lot of the chain moving passes Pittman used to get but Pierce is primed for a huge season

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by apballin

Pierce is ascending and he’s ready for a larger role

I believe Warren will get a lot of the chain moving passes Pittman used to get but Pierce is primed for a huge season

I really hope so. I’m just saying it’s not a slam dunk.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

I really hope so. I’m just saying it’s not a slam dunk.

Speaking of slams...

When Pierce uses that 40" vertical jump, he needs to not land on his head as much. Those will be some expensive protocols.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory

Speaking of slams...

When Pierce uses that 40" vertical jump, he needs to not land on his head as much. Those will be some expensive protocols.

Be nice if the pass gets out in front of him and he doesn’t have to slow up and jump for it

[sherck]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

Wait, so there is a 26.4 million cap hit in 2028 regardless of whether he’s still in Indy?

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.

Originally Posted by Puck

Ok. Cap money gurus

Can you explain void years ?

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.