Le'veon Bell Contract Structure - GREAT job

[Doggin94it]

This deserves its own thread.  The structure Mac negotiated is terrific for the Jets.

 

With an 8M signing bonus and 14.5M in year 1 cash flow, Bell's salaries are:

2019: 6.5 M (8.5M cap hit)

2020: 11.5M (13.5M cap hit)

2021: 10.5M+3M Reporting bonus (15.5M cap hit)

2022: 10M+3M Reporting bonus (15M cap hit)

On this structure, the Jets can cut Bell in 2021 for a 4M dead cap hit and 11.5M in cap savings, so if he isn't still playing at an elite level as he finishes his age 28 season in 2020, he's going to either be restructured or gone.  2022 is a phantom year unless Bell is still playing as a top tier RB; he'd have a 2M dead cap and the Jets would save 13M from cutting him. 

Not coincidentally, 2021 and 2022 are the years the Jets will be looking to extend Darnold on a big money deal - meaning there is exactly zero chance that the Bell contract negatively impacts the cap space they have available for Darnold, no matter what happens to the cap between now and then.  If the Jets want to make one last "low $ QB" run in 2021, and then shift to a more traditional cap allocation in 2022 (high dollars to the QB, relatively low to the RB) they absolutely have the flexibility to do that.

Add in the 6M of holdout protection and this contract is an absolute home run for the Jets

[Patriot Killa]

2 minutes ago, Doggin94it said:

2021: 10.5M+3M Reporting bonus (15.5M cap hit)

 2022: 10M+3M Reporting bonus (15M cap hit)

The guaranteed money runs out after year 2. This is an incentive for afterwards to get him to show up to training camp in the case that he doesn’t want to play out the rest of the contract. 

Dont think we’ll have an issue though.

[prime21]

Looks like Bell's gamble definitely was a bust.  Because he is young, hopefully he will be really motivated to show he deserves another big contract. 

[Skeptable]

2 minutes ago, prime21 said:

Looks like Bell's gamble definitely was a bust.  Because he is young, hopefully he will be really motivated to show he deserves another big contract. 

Yes and No.... Bell didn't want to give effort to a team that was literally going to run him into the ground for the season... Tomlin even said as much... They already took advantage of him in the previous years and he felt spurned... I get it... maybe overall financially it didn't work out... but overall health and situation is now better because of his actions...

I think he is going to come here focused and ready to prove to the world that he is the best in the league. Especially seeing that this contract doesn't guarantee a lot beyond 2020

[slats]

Mac has proven himself to be pretty adept at installing a trap-door in case he's made another bad decision. 

The fact that Le'Veon agreed to this deal is evidence of just how weak the market was for him, IMHO. He hurt his brand sitting out last year. I hope it leads to him playing with a chip on his shoulder and desire to earn every penny he can from the Jets. 

[Mike135]

We need some updated cap figures.

Great job Macc!

[Doggin94it]

Just now, Patriot Killa said:

The guaranteed money runs out after year 2. This is an incentive for afterwards to get him to show up to training camp in the case that he doesn’t want to play out the rest of the contract. 

Dont think we’ll have an issue though.

Basically the only way we have an issue is if Zeke Elliott resets the market in a huge way next year or the year after. But that won't happen.  They're obviously going to pick up his fifth year option next season, and then franchise him twice (after watching how much money Bell lost on his holdout, I doubt Elliott follows that path), so he won't have the market leverage to really blast past the current market leaders (Gurley, Johnson, Bell) until after the 2022 season (when Bell would be a FA anyway).  And there's nobody else coming up (McCaffrey? Hunt?) who will have the juice to adjust the market in a way that makes Bell think he's really underpaid

[Skeptable]

2 minutes ago, Mike135 said:

We need some updated cap figures.

Great job Macc!

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-york-jets/cap/

You can quickly plug in guesses for the unknown contracts at the bottom.

[Untouchable]

Great deal

Also, there were definitely other teams in on Bell...

Rapoport, Cris Carter and Maurice Jones-Drew (has the same agent as Bell) have stated the same. Teams like the 49ers and Raiders made a late push for Bell but he ultimately decided to go to the Jets, and Curt played a big part in the recruitment process

 

[Skeptable]

3 minutes ago, Doggin94it said:

Basically the only way we have an issue is if Zeke Elliott resets the market in a huge way next year or the year after. But that won't happen.  They're obviously going to pick up his fifth year option next season, and then franchise him twice (after watching how much money Bell lost on his holdout, I doubt Elliott follows that path), so he won't have the market leverage to really blast past the current market leaders (Gurley, Johnson, Bell) until after the 2022 season (when Bell would be a FA anyway).  And there's nobody else coming up (McCaffrey? Hunt?) who will have the juice to adjust the market in a way that makes Bell think he's really underpaid

Bell is not going to be a Jet for his next contract... IMO... unless he ends up loving it and the Jets become a winning franchise, he might take less to stay.. I think the Jets have him for the perfect amount of time... 

[Skeptable]

3 minutes ago, Untouchable said:

Rapoport and Cris Carter have stated the same. Teams like the 49ers and Raiders made a late push for Bell but he ultimately decided to go to the Jets, and Curt played a big part in the recruitment process.

 

Smart that the used Martin... whether they did this on their own or listened to Bart Scot.... either way, this was the best recruitment tool.

[Doggin94it]

2 minutes ago, Skeptable said:

Bell is not going to be a Jet for his next contract... IMO... unless he ends up loving it and the Jets become a winning franchise, he might take less to stay.. I think the Jets have him for the perfect amount of time... 

You're misunderstanding. The question was "what are the odds he holds out in the later years of his contract" and my answer was "effectively zero" because he'll be getting paid a top-of-market salary already in those years

[Mike135]

9 minutes ago, Skeptable said:

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-york-jets/cap/

You can quickly plug in guesses for the unknown contracts at the bottom.

Thanks.

Figuring average annual value for Mosley and Crowder (17mil n 9.5mil), which is probably overestimating, we still have 47mil after expected rookie payouts.

Not too shabby.

 

Edit:  forgot about Henry Anderson average annual of 8.5mil.

So 38.5 remains.

[Skeptable]

4 minutes ago, Doggin94it said:

You're misunderstanding. The question was "what are the odds he holds out in the later years of his contract" and my answer was "effectively zero" because he'll be getting paid a top-of-market salary already in those years

And he has holdout poison pills of the 3 Mil training camp bonuses in those years.

[JetsMetsDevilsPA]

Was a great job for sure... and he cut cro's sorry a** and gave us another 3 mil in cap.

[Doggin94it]

1 minute ago, Skeptable said:

And he has holdout poison pills of the 3 Mil training camp bonuses in those years.

exactly

[nico002]

Laveon was/is a jets fan. See his tweets from 2011...

[Doggin94it]

12 minutes ago, slats said:

Mac has proven himself to be pretty adept at installing a trap-door in case he's made another bad decision. 

The fact that Le'Veon agreed to this deal is evidence of just how weak the market was for him, IMHO. He hurt his brand sitting out last year. I hope it leads to him playing with a chip on his shoulder and desire to earn every penny he can from the Jets. 

Don't think this is so much about "will this be a bad decision this year and next" (and we don't have those trapdoors for Trumaine) as about when Bell will break down and when they'll need to shift their contract structure

[Jethead]

I think it's a win-win, which is a good thing. Bell is way better off than he was in Pittsburg where he was treated like a piece of meat. $25 million is nothing to sneeze at. Bell should not be viewed as a loser.

Structure protects the Jets from a significant fall off in performance after 2 years and incents Bell to play his best.

At the end of the day it's Woody's money so I am happy to see it spent.

[GreenReaper]

Great job by Mac...very well structured contract that protects the NYJ from  Bell injuries or noticeable fall off in effectiveness.

I hope though...that Bell can play at a very high level and earns every penny of that contract. He's not a dime a dozen that can easily be replaced. 

A great sports story it would be...if Darnold and Bell are hoisting the Lombardi Trophy sometime over these next 4 years. 

I love this contract...I love this signing.

[Skeptable]

3 minutes ago, Mike135 said:

Thanks.

Figuring average annual value for Mosley and Crowder (17mil n 9.5mil), which is probably overestimating, we still have 47mil after expected rookie payouts.

Not too shabby.

add anderson at say 8.5 and mcclendon at 2.5 harrison at 3 Mil and roberts at 6

they are at around 27 Mil left... 

[#27TheDominator]

Isn't 2021 the new CBA?  All these contracts may be moot by then.

[sourceworx]

12 minutes ago, Untouchable said:

Great deal

Also, there were definitely other teams in on Bell...

Rapoport, Cris Carter and Maurice Jones-Drew (has the same agent as Bell) have stated the same. Teams like the 49ers and Raiders made a late push for Bell but he ultimately decided to go to the Jets, and Curt played a big part in the recruitment process

 

I love this

[Chrebetfan80]

Very nice job, didnt expect anything less though. Mac has done a great job of building contracts with early outs for the club since he got here.  Im very interested to see the mosley deal details as well to see how that is structured

[JustInFudge]

This is great stuff.  He's going to have to earn that back half of his contract and if does, he'll be worthy every penny.

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

Bell got collusioned.

Jets got Revised.

[Sperm Edwards]

3 minutes ago, prime21 said:

Looks like Bell's gamble definitely was a bust.  Because he is young, hopefully he will be really motivated to show he deserves another big contract. 

Well it only looks that way because, in a 350th offensive touch in December, we didn't see him tear his MCL and PCL again. Do you suppose Pittsburgh (or anyone) would have offered him an 8-figure/year extension right after that? 

What if, even without an injury, he'd had another consecutive 400-touch season entering his age-27 season? It's a decent guess his subsequent deal still wouldn't have been this high. He only got this much after a full season of healthy rest. I doubt he'd have gotten as much if he'd played out the prior season.

Maybe he would have been better off in the end. Maybe not, and playing under the tag might have been the last 8-figure season he ever saw.

We'll never know, but it's convenient for fans on the sideline to add up the numbers while assuming only best-case scenarios would happen at what is probably both the highest-injury and shortest-career position in football.

[IndianaJet]

15 minutes ago, Skeptable said:

Bell is not going to be a Jet for his next contract... IMO... unless he ends up loving it and the Jets become a winning franchise, he might take less to stay.. I think the Jets have him for the perfect amount of time... 

Yeah...and when we draft Henderson out of Memphis this year, he'll be ready to take on the full load for a much cheaper price, when Bell leaves in 2021.

[nycdan]

8 minutes ago, Mike135 said:

Thanks.

Figuring average annual value for Mosley and Crowder (17mil n 9.5mil), which is probably overestimating, we still have 47mil after expected rookie payouts.

Not too shabby.

I still can't figure out what IND is doing.  They have signed only 2 mod-level guys - Desir and Funchess and still have to have at least $75MM in cap available.  And unlike us, I think they have a pretty filled out roster.  

[20andOut]

Was not a big proponent of signing Bell but can't complain about that contract.

[Warfish]

36 minutes ago, Doggin94it said:

On this structure, the Jets can cut Bell in 2021 for a.......this contract is an absolute home run for the Jets

/sigh

Only in Jets Land is signing a player a "home run" because we can cut him sooner for less money, as opposed to, you know, the player being awesome.

This is what the Franchise has done to us.  This thread.

[tdoublee]

So is this really a 2yr/$30M deal? He gets $26M + the remaining $4M signing bonus is accelerated if released after 2 years.

I see a lot of these TV analysts saying $13M AAV but it's not that simple with these contacts. This contract gives him fair pay and both sides options to move on or renegotiate at age 30.

[NoBowles]

2 minutes ago, Warfish said:

/sigh

Only in Jets Land is signing a player a "home run" because we can cut him sooner for less money, as opposed to, you know, the player being awesome.

This is what the Franchise has done to us.  This thread.

I don't see it that way. Bell is a one of the better offensive weapons in the NFL, we need offensive weapons. That said, the guy didnt play in a year, and has had some issues. The hope, and reason to sign him is you are getting that weapon, and with the contract he is incentivized to play well. If he doesnt, your not hamstrung by his contract.

[Mike135]

8 minutes ago, nycdan said:

I still can't figure out what IND is doing.  They have signed only 2 mod-level guys - Desir and Funchess and still have to have at least $75MM in cap available.  And unlike us, I think they have a pretty filled out roster.  

Maybe taking a long term approach?

Carry over what they can to 2020.  If they have to spend a certain amount, perhaps restructure some of their current guys to count more against the cap this year?

[Untouchable]

12 minutes ago, nycdan said:

I still can't figure out what IND is doing.  They have signed only 2 mod-level guys - Desir and Funchess and still have to have at least $75MM in cap available.  And unlike us, I think they have a pretty filled out roster.  

In a short time, I’ve learned to never doubt Chris Ballard.

People were giving the Colts sh*t last year for not signing any big names, and they ended up having the best FA stint of anyone by adding a bunch of mid-tier guys a week+ into FA that ended up paying dividends.

Ballard may already be the best GM in the league.