This article mentions the "unmentionable one" but deals with jets' cap issues in general. If it needs to be moved I apologize in advance and mods please move it. http://nyjetscap.com/2012_Articles/capconcerns.html We all know that the Jets are in a tough position financially in 2013. As of Wednesday, the Jets only had 39 players under contract of which 3 are guaranteed cuts, so let’s call it 36 players. The Jets will likely enter 2013, after those moves and carrying over their remaining 2012 cap room, with about $11 million to spend on those 17 players needed to reach the 53 man roster. They have plenty of other moves that can be made for more financial flexibility, but you get the idea. It looks to be tight barring a big trade of someone like David Harris or Santonio Holmes. I admit I’ve been puzzled as to some of the decisions that the Jets have made with personnel this season. It really seems to be the first time I have seen the Jets making moves that appear to be guided, in part, by salary considerations. Now let me just say that some of the things I will talk about here are, to the best of my knowledge correct. However, I want to preface this by saying that things do change all the time in the NFL and if anyone reading this wants to correct something please email me and I’ll fix any errors as long as you can verify the data. I just want it out there up front that this may not be 100% correct in terms of financial implication for the team. The small ones deal with players who have contracts that call for escalated salaries in 2013 if they reach certain playing time thresholds. If you see players entering their final contract year in 2013 seemingly vanish from the rotation in 2012 odds are it is to save a few hundred thousand in roster money next year or the hassle of guaranteeing them money to have them bring the number back down. After years of talking about the importance of continuity on an offensive line the Jets have moved into this strange rotation on the offensive line. It is one where they rotate their left guard every third series. Im not sure I can recall too many NFL teams that use a rotation on the line. Usually the starters play all the snaps unless they are injured or ineffective and benched. The Jets clearly made a play in the offseason to push Matt Slauson to take a paycut in return for a guaranteed salary and the starting job which he agreed to. Slauson remains the starter but loses about 30% of the snaps to Vlad Ducasse. Ducasse has a bonus in his contract that increases his 2013 salary cap figure by $410,000 if he plays in 45% of the snaps this season. If Ducasse fails to earn this year that bonus vanishes, with $410,000 of his 2013 salary remaining guaranteed as protection for the player. The Jets save $410,000 in both cash and cap with this rotational system. Yes it’s a small amount but when you look at some of the moves the Jets have made this past year to free up smalls sums of money (Slauson, Mike DeVito), clearly it is in their playbook. In addition the Jets starting RG Brandon Moore is a free agent. So is Matt Slauson. As an older veteran that seems to be declining it would be unlikely to see Moore remain with a team that looks ready to rebuild. Slauson’s value is driven down on the open market by the fact that he is not an entrenched starter. It gives the Jets an opportunity to bring him back at a low cost with minimal guarantees and probably plug him at the RG position. Slauson isn’t great but he is a capable player for a one or two year period. But the big one is Tim Tebow. Again I want to mention here that the information I have on Tebow is from his prior contract with Denver which I assume rolled over with the Jets, but I do not know for a fact if this is the case. So take this as a possibility and not 100% accurate. Everyone is puzzled by the fact that Tebow never plays for the Jets. The starting QB the Jets have is terrible. There is no way to sugarcoat the performances no matter how much Rex Ryan tries to in every postgame press conference. In the games where the Jets have been blown away it was shocking that the team didn’t put in Tebow in mop up duty just to get a look at the player. With the exception of rookies taking their lumps almost no starting QB, except for the superstars, would have remained in the games against the San Francisco 49’ers or Miami Dolphins. In the summer Rex Ryan talked about playing Tebow 25% of the teams snaps. Thus far he has been in 10.1% and the number is falling. Tebow is one of the last remaining players that should be playing under the old CBA rookie contract structure. Under the old CBA 1st round draft picks often had low base value deals to comply with CBA rules with easily attainable escalators based on playing time. For instance Dustin Keller this year saw his salary increase to $3.052 million as he entered the final year of his deal. As a QB drafted in the 1st round those incentives are increased dramatically. Tebow’s rookie contract had a base value of $9.7125 million with an easily achievable value of $11.125 million based on reaching the standard playing time escalators of either 35% as a rookie or 45% any year thereafter. He unlocked that in 2011 when he played in about 76% of the Broncos offensive snaps. As a first round QB he had the potential to turn the contract into a $33 million dollar deal through incentives that would only be realized if he turned out to be the next John Elway. The more realistic number was that the contract would be worth $22.5 million if he developed into a starting QB. The additional $11.25 million, if earned, would be added onto the backend of Tebow’s 5 year contract in 2013 and 2014. He had two avenues to earn the escalators. If he played in 55% of the snaps in two of his first three seasons (2010-2012) he would earn an additional $5 million in 2013 and $6.25 million in 2014. If he plays in 70% of the snaps in 2013 he earns the full payment in 2014. Tebow’s current cap number in 2013 is $2,586,875 which includes a guaranteed payment of $1,531,875 that goes to the Denver Broncos as part of the terms of the trade. If Tebow was to earn that escalator his cap charge would balloon to $7,586,875. That is a number the Jets cant handle next season, considering they owe Sanchez $8.25 million guaranteed next year and a cap charge of over $12.8 million. 2014 is not an issue for the Jets but clearly 2013 is and maybe that is playing a role in the management of Tebow’s snaps. Over the summer the Jets proclaimed they were going to use Tebow close to 20 snaps per game which is about 25% of the teams offensive plays, specifically in the red zone. The Jets have played 546 offensive snaps through 8 weeks. If the Jets had played Tebow as advertised and continued at that pace the most they would likely be able to start him is the last 5 games to safely avoid the bonus. Had they used him in those blowout games early in the year you would be looking at is 4. With his current snap count and snap averages they should be able to get 7 starts out of him and miss the bonus payment. . Had they made move earlier to start they would be completely stuck with he and Sanchez eating up $20 million in cap room in 2013. If the escalators are a real possibility it at least may explain why the Jets don’t use him at all unless they really see him as that bad of a player in practice, which is why Denver coach John Fox used to say about his views on Tebow. From Tebow’s side you have to be furious if this is the case and they are managing his potential earnings this way. Had Tebow chosen Jacksonville he clearly would be the starter. Not only is Blaine Gabbert often injured but when healthy he is completely ineffective. There would be no doubt that Tebow would be the starter and be earning the maximum realistic value on his contract. If Tebow is going to remain on the Jets I have a gut feeling that there had to be some assurance, especially the way the season has transpired, that Tebow will get every opportunity to start in 2013 and earn his money as his original contract stated. Maybe it’s an Oliver Stone conspiracy on my part, but I think he is blocked for another game or two because of the concerns about the teams finances and the need to protect their cap in the event the owner puts his foot down and demands the switch to be made. Between Tebow’s potential salary and sunk costs in Sanchez there is a lot more going on than the negatives of Sanchez’ stats and “belief in Mark” by the head coach as the reasons for why the Jets are doing things the way they are. I just hope in 2013 the team is back to being run the way they were in the years leading up to 2012 where players played on merit and decisions were made to evaluate for the future when things went south. I truly believe that the Jets can navigate their “financial crisis” next year without issue, but something this year just does not sit right with me at all.
this SHOULD NOT be moved. i am not positive of its validity but if it is in fact true its a terrible thing to read. just knowing the organization is being run this way would make me sick and would make me hate woody and especially that piece of shit tannenbaum even more.
This proves right here that Tannenbaum needs to be fired. No self respecting GM would not at least try to change that portion of the contract. ESPECIALLY when you are just coming off an 8-8 year with a below average QB. This would not be a problem if we didn't freaking extend Sanchez's contract. The only hope is to start McElroy and have Tebow do some snaps.
Good post, it makes sense to me. One of the things I worry about with this teams is that we won't have the money next offseason to make the moves nessesary to fix the offensive problems. Say we resign, Landry,Greene,and Keller and maybe Bell, what will be left to make some other signings
This is an awful thing to read, but it does make a lot of sense. Decently more sense than we are playing Sanchez "because he gives us the best chance to win."
The cap situation next year is a disaster no matter what else happens in the interim. 2012 was the duck year when the Jets could avoid a lot of the issues. 2013 is going to be the flaming disaster where the roster gets worse again and the Jets only way to fix things is to draft well in the mid to late rounds. The Jets were able to renegotiate Sanchez contract this season to keep the cap doom from starting in 2012. But like all of their cap-based renegotiations recently this only pushed the problem out a year and made it worse in the process. The wild card is Darrelle Revis. He's the one who can just break the Jets next season.
Can someone explain to me the thought process when Sanchez got an extension? P.S. Who are the free agents after this season?
Sanchez had a very high cap figure for 2012 and 2013. The renegotiation cut the cap numbers both years but guaranteed his salary both years in the process. He also got 2014 guaranteed. The Jets were betting the cap limit would go up in the next two seasons and instead it appears to be staying the same over that timeframe.
He's going to be the most expensive backup QB in NFL history over a period of seasons. Drew Bledsoe briefly held that title in New England before the Pats let him go.
His guaranteed money changed very little -- something like $17 million to $20 million. And he moved money in a way that helps the Jets. It wasn't really much of an "extension." The out years have no guaranteed money in them.
sounds like a fairy tale to me. Rex has too much respect in himself and the team to do something like that. Tebow isn't playing cuz he's getting lapped by Sanchez in practice. Sanchez gives us the best chance to win FLAT OUT
If it's true that the difference on the cap for the Jets is in the 4-5 million range depending on if Tebow plays a certain percentage of plays then I have no trouble at all believing that they are keeping him on the bench until they know for sure that he cannot reach that percentage. The Jets cap problems are bad next season. Anything that makes them 4-5 million worse would be a disaster for them right now.
woody is a billionaire u think he's gonna sabotage this team's chances based on some nickle and dime 4-5 mil? TEbow's lack of playtime is for football reason only. Rex is a honest guy I'm taking him at his word
I mean this sounds reasonable but I have two questions. 1) Couldn't the Jets just cut him next year to avoid the salary if that were the case? 2) Wouldn't Tebow's agent be willing to re-do his contract if it meant he could start? I understand that under normal circumstances you never want to take money off the table when it's already in writing, but I'd think Tebow would prefer to play than to sit the bench because of a potential escalator.
It is a rule that you CAN NOT go over the cap. If a team does then they can not sign ANY free agents and you can even lose draft picks (ITS NOT ABOUT THE MONEY) etc here read it http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/FAQ.aspx Question 1.13 So...what happens if a team goes over the Salary Cap? Answer: The short answer is simply that NO team CAN go over the Salary Cap. Note that every contract must go through the NFL League Office before the deal can be made official. Presumably, one of the things the league must do at this time is determine whether or not the contract would violate the NFL's Salary Cap. If the deal does violate the cap, then the NFL will reject it. If a team releases or trades a player and the signing bonus acceleration puts a team over the Salary Cap, the team will have seven days to conform with the Salary Cap. However, they may not sign any players until there is room to do so under the Salary Cap. There have been instances in which a team has managed to sneak a cap evading contract by the league. Upon further review, the violations were caught by the league and the respective teams were penalized. Penalties include fines and/or forfeiture of draft picks. In recent history both the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers have been penalized draft picks, while the 49ers' front office personnel (Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark) were also fined.
I think this makes the only sense. Regardless of what got you into that position (poor GM planning I suspect), if you were the GM, you have to be telling Rex that Tebow cannot be allowed to hit that escalator under any circumstances. You simply cannot operate an offseason with only $6 million in cap space for 17 spots, especially since you intend to draft in the first few rounds, franchise tag a player, or pick up any quality (non-minimum salary) free agents. There will be NO Tebow until his escalator is not an issue for 2013. And they won't bench Sanchez (who clearly deserves it, even if for a game) for McElroy because of media firestorm and fan anger that would result from him overstepping Tebow. They certainly can't explain their reasons publicly because the first question you ask is "What stupid GM led them into this situation where the coach is hamstrung now by future cap consideration". So instead, it's "Sanchez gives us the best chance to win" and nothing else.
ahahahahahaha WHAT!??!?! what games are you watching???? The only question I have is Why? Why bring in Tebow if we are only going to use him the way we are currently using him? And the answer I keep seeing is "we are in the media business." This team is managed by a bunch of clowns and is more of WWF than NFL.
