Contract Restructuring

[bblom23]

Can someone explain this to me? I understand it can free up cap space. But when would it be necessary? What is the downside to doing this? Does the AI do this?

Considering doing it right now for my franchise QB, but don't want to to screw myself.

[Gordonzolar]

to put it simply: restructuring means you convert part of the salary into a signing bonus. That signing bonus can be spread out equally throughout the life of the player’s contract.


Lets say you have a player that has a $30m annual salary the next three years. His cap hit this year would be $30m. You could convert that $30m salary into a signing bonus. The player still gets $30m, but you can spread the amount over the next three years, which means his cap hit will only amount to $10m this year. You'll save $20m in cap space.


The downside is obviously the next year: His cap hit will consist of the $30m annual salary plus the $10m signing bonus from the previous year, which amounts to $40m. You could restructure again, however the cap hit in future years will only get higher and once you want to cut him from your roster, you will inherit a big amount of dead cap because salary from a cut player does not count against the cap, but signing bonuses do.



when would it be necessary? Whenever you are in need of cap space to retain or sign players and feel like the player you'd like to restructure is part of your plans for the next years.
If you don't need to do it, I would not do it. keep a little bit of financial flexibility for future years.


and yes, the AI does it to.