Le'veon Bell Contract Structure - GREAT job

[Mike135]

5 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.

Gotta be realistic man.

If you're not planning ahead, you're planning for failure.

(That's a saying right?)

[nycdan]

4 minutes ago, Untouchable said:

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.

Colts fans seem to agree.  Let the overspending quell down and then jump in and grab the guys you like that are left.  You don't get the big names like Bell or Mosley, but you do get a more sustainable salary cap year over year so you can splash when you want to.  It helps that he had a monster draft (helped immensely by us) last year.  Luck will finally have a team around him he can win with.  They should be fun to watch.  

[Tony MaC]

Incredibly manageable. Great work overall.

[Doggin94it]

7 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.

Fish, you know I love ya, but this is a bad take, because the two things aren't mutually exclusive.  Bell is an elite player who will dramatically improve our offense and make our franchise QB's growth easier and more likely.  That's terrific.  It's also important that he's signed at a price we can afford (meaning it doesn't significantly impact our ability to improve other areas of the team), especially because he's also a 27-year old running back (they have short careers and tend to fall off a cliff near age 30), and there's a not insignificant risk that while he's worth the money now, he won't be in year 3 (and a huge risk for year 4).  A more player friendly structure of the exact same contract with the exact same cashflows could have had him with a 12M signing bonus that would have made it harder to cut him year 3 if need be.

In other words, the signing is a home run because it makes our team significantly better in the short term without sacrificing our long term success.  And if Bell is still playing at a level that justifies the contract in 2021 and 2022, all the better.

[Doggin94it]

11 minutes ago, tdoublee said:

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.

That's not quite right. 2/26 is the guarantee (the signing bonus accelerating is a pure cap accounting issue: he already got all that money this year).

[FidelioJet]

Basically a 2 year deal - 

So we get him for age 27 and 28.  

Fantastic contract.  I honesty don't think anyone could have expected anything better.

[Doggin94it]

3 minutes ago, nycdan said:

Colts fans seem to agree.  Let the overspending quell down and then jump in and grab the guys you like that are left.  You don't get the big names like Bell or Mosley, but you do get a more sustainable salary cap year over year so you can splash when you want to.  It helps that he had a monster draft (helped immensely by us) last year.  Luck will finally have a team around him he can win with.  They should be fun to watch.  

That's the Pats plan.  Not one we currently need to be on, given our cap space and roster construction (i.e. Darnold on a rookie deal) but once Darnold gets his deal redone, that's the best approach

[static14]

Mac knows how to structure a contract. 

[Doggin94it]

26 minutes ago, Sperm Edwards said:

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.

Yeah, the "did he lose out by not playing on the tag" debate misses a whole dimension of his decision (the risk of playing and the impact of another year on the market)

But "did he lose out by not signing the Steelers' July 2018 offer of 5 years, 70M, 33 guaranteed"? Um ... hell yes. He ended up getting less, and with about the same total guarantee.  That's not really debatable

[David Harris]

The training camp reporting bonuses are the most important factor to me. We all remember the Revis holdouts.

 There are certainly risks with Bell. He wants to be a legitimate rapper and a brand almost as much as a running back. He flashes his bling and that life too much to be comfortable for me. He likes his wealth and at times almost seems like he knows he’s already made enough to be  comfortable forever.

But he knows he is being doubted by many. This will probably drive him to prove everybody wrong. He knows he lit $14 million dollars on fire and maybe that will tug on him to make every cent he can now that he knows this isn’t going to last forever and he’s not as valued as he once believed. 

I imagine he’s pissed off that OBJ’s trade relegated him and his album release/decision to the second biggest story of the day.

I could see him becoming a cancer if he doesn’t get the blocking he’s used to or the team struggles early.

There is a ridiculous upside - and my hunch it goes extremely well, but there’s definitely some risk which is well worth it.  We need stars, as Jamal says we need some dawgs out there and we got the biggest one available.

Sam Darnold dumping off to Le’Veon Bell- what a great time to be a Jets fan

[Jetmech]

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.

There seems to be an assumption by some talking heads that if Bell played last year he would not have been offered a large contract due to the amount of touches he gets with the Steelers. Who knows...


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[JoJoTownsell1]

33 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'm just happy being a Jets fan this long hasn't turned me into a miserable SOJF

[choon328]

48 minutes ago, Doggin94it said:

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

They can cut Trumaine after next year. It'll cost $12 million in dead money but save them $3 million in cap space and $11 million in cash. It's not ideal but it's doable if he's terrible again. If he stays in 2020 they can cut him after that season and save $9 million with an $8 million dead cap hit. The Jets have plenty of options with him.

[Warfish]

22 minutes ago, Doggin94it said:

Fish, you know I love ya, but this is a bad take....

And you know I love you too old friend, and I'm not going to argue this point.

But I will say that Jets Fans remind me more and more of domestic abuse victims, and it's just sad.  I'm no different, I get it.

But man, the idea that "we can get out of this early when (if?) it blows up, this is GREAT!" even crossed our minds says alot about being a Jets Fan.

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

Maccagnan’s resume:

1. once traded three second round picks to move from 6 to 3 overall

2. drafted a professional-quality tight end in the fourth round

3. LeVeon Bell contract ‘structure’

[PCP63]

9 minutes ago, Warfish said:

And you know I love you too old friend, and I'm not going to argue this point.

But I will say that Jets Fans remind me more and more of domestic abuse victims, and it's just sad.  I'm no different, I get it.

But man, the idea that "we can get out of this early when (if?) it blows up, this is GREAT!" even crossed our minds says alot about being a Jets Fan.

How can you argue that having a basic contingency is NOT a good thing? Blows my mind how short sighted that mindset is. 

[Doggin94it]

6 minutes ago, choon328 said:

They can cut Trumaine after next year. It'll cost $12 million in dead money but save them $3 million in cap space and $11 million in cash. It's not ideal but it's doable if he's terrible again. If he stays in 2020 they can cut him after that season and save $9 million with an $8 million dead cap hit. The Jets have plenty of options with him.

Take a look at what you're saying, and think about the difference between the two .

After next year (Yr 2), we can cut Trumaine and save 3M in cap space - which isn't enough to replace him with even a league average CB.  If they cut him after year 3, they have a dead cap of 8M and savings of 9M (enough for a tier-2 CB).

With Bell, if he's cut after year 2, the Jets save 11M in cap space (enough to sign an elite replacement).  After year 3, they get back even more space and have nearly no dead cap.

Bottom line: Johnson's contract requires the Jets to keep him for 3 years, even if he busts, before he can be replaced with a lesser player than they were expecting Johnson to be.  Bell's contract allows the Jets to replace him with an equivalent-tier player (if one is available and they want to) after year 2.

They're not remotely comparable

[choon328]

5 minutes ago, Doggin94it said:

Take a look at what you're saying, and think about the difference between the two .

After next year (Yr 2), we can cut Trumaine and save 3M in cap space - which isn't enough to replace him with even a league average CB.  If they cut him after year 3, they have a dead cap of 8M and savings of 9M (enough for a tier-2 CB).

With Bell, if he's cut after year 2, the Jets save 11M in cap space (enough to sign an elite replacement).  After year 3, they get back even more space and have nearly no dead cap.

Bottom line: Johnson's contract requires the Jets to keep him for 3 years, even if he busts, before he can be replaced with a lesser player than they were expecting Johnson to be.  Bell's contract allows the Jets to replace him with an equivalent-tier player (if one is available and they want to) after year 2.

They're not remotely comparable

I wasn't comparing the two. I was responding to you saying Trumaine doesn't have trap doors in his contract and he does. He has no guaranteed money after his 2nd year if he's released prior to the 3rd day of the 2020 league year. The cap goes up $10 million each year. With that and the $3 million in savings they could replace him easily in free agency next year. You also have to remember he got a 5 year deal worth $14 million per year with a $20 million signing bonus. A much bigger contract than Le'Veon and they can still get out of it with a net savings after next year. I understand it's not a big savings but there is an out after next year.

[Skeptable]

1 hour 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.

This contract is great for both sides... as long as Bell shows up, he will get his guaranteed money... Jets have safe guards in place to protect him from being Revis... No downside... 

[JoJoTownsell1]

16 minutes ago, PCP63 said:

How can you argue that having a basic contingency is NOT a good thing? Blows my mind how short sighted that mindset is. 

The Jets could win a super bowl and he would find a depressing angle to spew. 

[Maxman]

1 hour ago, Doggin94it said:

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

Thanks for posting this. Say what you want about Macc, no GM is perfect, but man his contracts seem like he is paying the money himself. He generally protects the team very well with this stuff.

[JetFaninMI]

I didn't want to sign him for fear he would be holding out and bringing drama but this contract is very Jets friendly. I'm not surprised. Writing contracts is Macc's best strength as a GM. Now if he could only apply that to the draft we would be golden.

Lol how bad is it that Tru is getting that deal in comparison to this one. I expect him to rebound big time this season.

[ljr]

1 hour ago, Doggin94it said:

That's the Pats plan.  Not one we currently need to be on, given our cap space and roster construction (i.e. Darnold on a rookie deal) but once Darnold gets his deal redone, that's the best approach

Also slide millions under the table to your QB so they dont count against the cap

[GREENBEAN]

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
 

Wow!! This is really something. Curtis Martin huh?? That’s cool. This is a fantastic contract. Most of my concern with bell had to do with money and motivation. This contract breakdown and the reasoning that helped him come here remove a lot of it. I’m really happy he will be a jet. (I’m still nervous that it’s not signed yet)
Bell is an exciting offensive weapon and coupled with crowder, that’s a nice infusion of potential for darnold. KO as an angry mauler OG ( not original gangsta) is another positive addition. I’m feeling good right about now!

If we wrap up FA Ruth either Houston or Callahan or both and go into the draft with some momentum.
Let’s get A center, edge and OT and the rest is gravy. Use this draft to get solid guys to groom behind the players we just signed.

[CTJetsFan]

1 hour ago, static14 said:

Mac knows how to structure a contract. 

Mac just needs to be our cap/contract guy.....like Tanny was before he became GM and got in over his head.

[Thai Jet]

3 hours 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. 

Total bust. We said he'd NEVER get back that $14  mil he gave up last year. He WAAAY over estimated the interest in teams would have for a 27 yr. old, me 1st running back, who avg. career 4.3 yd per rush same as Isiah Crowell. . Imagine that.

[Thai Jet]

1 hour ago, JetFaninMI said:

I didn't want to sign him for fear he would be holding out and bringing drama but this contract is very Jets friendly. I'm not surprised. Writing contracts is Macc's best strength as a GM. Now if he could only apply that to the draft we would be golden.

Lol how bad is it that Tru is getting that deal in comparison to this one. I expect him to rebound big time this season.

Hopefully Greg Williams will have a huge hand in making that happen.

[Jetmech]

Total bust. We said he'd NEVER get back that $14  mil he gave up last year. He WAAAY over estimated the interest in teams would have for a 27 yr. old, me 1st running back, who avg. career 4.3 yd per rush same as Isiah Crowell. . Imagine that.

Serious?


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[Thai Jet]

1 hour ago, Jetmech said:

 

Serious?


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As a coronary.

[Aussie Jet]

Tip of the cap to Maccagnan for that contract structure. Gives Bell what he was looking for in terms of guaranteed money but gives the Jets the flexibility to either extend him to cut him if production doesn't measure up to standard.

[Dcat]

Ed Bouchette: Le'Veon Bell's contract with Jets even worse than it first looked

 

ED BOUCHETTE

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ebouchette@post-gazette.com

 

 

MAR 14, 2019

 

3:50 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Le’Veon Bell vowed to reset the NFL’s running back market in 2019 after refusing to play for the Steelers in 2018, and he did just that.

He set it back.

The details of Bell’s four-year, $52.5 million contract with the New York Jets have been reported, and it’s even worse than it first looked.

Bell will earn $26 million in the first two years of the contract, $25 million of it guaranteed, according to NFL Network. There is no other guaranteed money in his deal.

 

Ray Fittipaldo

Steven Nelson ready to bring ball-hawking abilities to Steelers secondary

The five-year, $70 million deal the Steelers offered him last summer that he turned down included $33 million in the first two years, $20.5 million of that guaranteed in the first year, as reported by CBS’ Jason LaCanfora.

Thus, Bell may have set another NFL precedent – the first player in history to hold out an entire season for less money.

The Jets reportedly were the only ones bidding on Bell, and he had nowhere else to turn when he accepted their deal Monday night. It is far below the annual $17 million he once predicted he would get and not even close to the virtual guarantees he would have received from the Steelers.

NFL Network reported that Bell received only an $8 million signing bonus from the Jets with a total take of just $14.5 million in the first year. Had he accepted the Steelers’ offer, he would have earned more than double that by the end of 2019.

Bell also lost a full year of his NFL career. The Steelers play at the New York Jets this year.

[Dcat]

Guaranteed money breakdown by Albert Breer:

Through Year 1: Steelers $19.5M, Jets $14.5M
Through Year 2: Steelers $33.0M, Jets $26M
Through Year 3: Steelers $45.0M, Jets $39.5M

... Not much to argue here. Pittsburgh's offer was better. 

** this is the guaranteed dollars**

[nycdan]

I'll flip this around for a slightly different perspective.  I was vocal that I was not keen on signing Bell because I assumed it would have been a stupid-money contract which we would be anchored to for 4 years.  Looking at this deal, if Bell had signed anywhere else, I would have been really bummed.  This is a very team-friendly deal for him because we're not locked in beyond next year. 

Glad he's getting paid.  Hope he's fired up to show the haters how wrong they were.

[jgb]

8 hours ago, Doggin94it said:

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

Agree although there is one other potentiality in 2021 beyond extend or cut... a hold out.

[Doggin94it]

4 minutes ago, jgb said:

Agree although there is one other potentiality in 2021 beyond extend or cut... a hold out.

Not likely. He'll still be getting paid top of the market money, so what would the point of holding out be? Definitely nothing worth forfeiting the reporting bonus for