the problem is, without the cap penalties, you have no cap. it can be manipulated easily. for example if there is say no penalty and you want a player for 1 year and say it's a top level WR who would make like 17 mil a season. You can give them a 10 year 200 million contract with a 30 million signing bonus and 1 mil salary for year 1. that means for the 1 year they make 31 million but their cap cost is only 4 mil. then you cut them after year 1 with no penalty so you basically got a top level player for only 4 mil off the cap despite paying them 31 million. That's why the penalty has to exist. it's not a penalty really, it's just making sure every dime you pay for a player goes against your cap at some point. it prevents teams from shelling out tons of money to players to load up on talent with little cap cost. the only situation i'd say there shouldn't be a cap penalty is a major injury like alex smith right now for example. he may never play again but he's counting a ton of money against their cap. same happened to us with chad pennington. I think if a player has to miss 16 games or more then their pay shouldn't count against the cap but outside of that, everything paid out needs to count to keep parity
and that's where the issue comes in is that teams will try and loophole their way to spending extra money. If something like that was to occur there would need to be stipulations to the extent of injuries and verified by 3rd party NFL doctors only.
It’s pretty simple though, if any new football league wants to have any success, they need to do anything they can to get some airtime on ESPN. Pay ESPN off, beg them, sexual favors like the Fyre Festival. Anything It sucks cause I hate ESPN but it has a lot of power. Did you see any highlights of AAF on SportsCenter??? Mike and Mike talking about it Monday mornings? Was it on their scrolling bottom line??? Answers: No, No, and No. that’s why AAF failed
In an update to our previous story, the Alliance of American Football announced on its Twitter account Thursday afternoon that their players are now free to sign with NFL teams. The NFL had sent out a memo earlier in the day advising teams to hold off on contacting AAF players or their agents as it was unclear if they were still under contract. The standard AAF three-year contracts included a provision allowing players to exit for NFL opportunities at the conclusion of an AAF season. Although the AAF’s season as a practical matter concluded when it suspended operations, the NFL opted to wait until official documentation was obtained authorizing NFL teams to sign AAF players. Several former NFL/current AAF players are expected to draw renewed interest in the NFL including quarterback Garrett Gilbert, wide receiver Charles Johnson, and running back Zac Stacy. Free agent wide receiver Charles Johnson may have earned himself an NFL job or at least a training camp invite with his performance in the AAF according to Albert Breer of MMQB.com. Johnson was leading the league with 687 receiving yards when it folded this week. Originally a seventh-round pick of the Green Bay Packers out of Grand Valley State in 2013, Johnson spent three years as a member of the Minnesota Vikings from 2014 to 2016. Big and fast, he made waves by catching 31 passes for 475 yards and two scores with the Vikings way back in 2014, but his career fizzled after that. Even at age 30, it would not be surprising if Johnson got another shot heading into the offseason program. Other notable AAF names who Breer thinks might get another look in the NFL are QB Garrett Gilbert, RB Zac Stacy, WR Rashad Ross, WR Jalin Marshall, DE Damontre Moore, and OLB Jayrone Elliott.
