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http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/sto...-salary-cup-disaster-geno-atkins-haloti-ngata
The Lions have a big decision on their hands regarding star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Suh carries a $22.4 million salary cap charge in 2014 and his contract will become void in 2015, leaving the Lions with a huge cap hit and little else in return.
Poor salary cap management and planning by the Lions front office has all but eliminated the possibility of signing Suh to a contract extension that makes sense for the team. The best option at this point is for the Lions to strongly consider trading Suh to the highest bidder before the preseason concludes.
How the Lions got here
Suh represents one of the last remaining rookie contracts signed under the rules of the 2006 collective bargaining agreement. During the terms of the old CBA, agents and players had a great deal of leeway to ask for major contract concessions from the team. Suh’s contract would run for just five years with an expected value of $60 million and a maximum value of $68 million. A huge chunk of that, $40 million, was virtually guaranteed upon signing.
Because of the salary structures used in these rookie contracts, teams had to avoid modifying the contracts prior to a first extension.
The Lions, however, would proceed to make a disaster out of Suh’s contract, showing almost no thought of long-term planning. Suh’s contract would be reworked for salary cap relief in both 2012 and 2013, pushing salary cap charges further and further into the contract. To make matters worse, Suh’s deal contained a voidable contract year in 2015, which was simply used as a placeholder for salary cap charges. The charges in the voidable year will remain with the Lions whether or not Suh is on the team that season.
Suh’s original contract would have called for a salary cap charge of $16.147 million in 2014 with just $3.472 million left in charges in the 2015 season. Following all of the restructuring, his cap charge grew to $22.4125 million in 2014 with $9.7375 million in charges still sitting in that voidable contract year.
These decisions have compromised the Lions’ ability to negotiate a long-term extension with Suh at a reasonable compensation level and contract structure. Normally teams will threaten a player with a franchise tag when negotiating a contract, and under his prior contract structure, that figure would have been $19.226 million. While that number seems incredibly high, it would be less cash than he would receive in a contract extension and both sides would have reason to get a contract done. Now the cost of the franchise tag will be $26.745 million with a salary cap charge of $36.483 million.
What would Suh cost
The current top of the market contract for a veteran 4-3 defensive tackle is held by Geno Atkins of the Cincinnati Bengals. Atkins signed an extension in 2013 worth just under $10.7 million a season, well below Suh’s current contract figure. While Atkins does not have the reputation that Suh has for being a dominant force on the football field, in terms of basic production Atkins would be considered slightly superior to Suh. Here is a brief statistical comparison of Suh and Atkins over what would be the two years leading up to a new contract:
Suh’s agents will focus on the $12.2 million-a-year contract signed in 2011 by Ravens tackle/end Haloti Ngata. Ngata’s contributions to the Ravens never showed up on a stat sheet and his contract was largely based upon his perceived talent level and reputation for making those around him better. Considering the salary cap has risen by 11 percent since that time, we can probably assume that Suh would be looking for a contract worth $13.5 million a season.
Ndamukong Suh (AP Photo)
The Atkins and Ngata contracts also differ greatly in the way they were structured, and Suh is in a position to demand the Lions use something closer to the Ngata structure. Ngata received $35 million in prorated bonus money, compared to just $15 million for Atkins. Ngata’s bonuses virtually guarantee the first four years of his contract, while Atkins only has the same protection for two years. The cash flows of the contracts illustrate the massive differences in real commitments the teams made to the players.
Why the Lions should not extend Suh
When Ngata was at his peak, the Ravens were one of the top defensive units in the NFL. The Bengals have been that with Atkins. In Suh’s four years in the NFL, the Lions have ranked on average 21st in points allowed and 17th in sacks. Suh may make a big difference on a team with an already solid defense in place, but on the Lions, he has yet to be a difference-maker in terms of team production and there is little reason to think that will change over the next two years. Teams do not compromise their salary structure for a non-difference making player.
There is almost no contract structure that the Lions can utilize to create a favorable situation with Suh. Other teams can use a more modern approach of roster bonuses combined with signing bonuses, but the Lions would likely be locked into a contract containing somewhere in the ballpark of a $30 million signing bonus and two other option bonuses. Such a contract would look like this:
Detroit won’t get better by locking into Suh at these figures. It should not be an option they even consider.
Trading Suh
Moving on from Suh would be the best move the team could make. They would save $12.675 million in cap room in 2014, money that can be rolled over into future seasons to help them cope with the contracts they signed with Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford. They would likely receive at least a second- round draft pick in a trade, a pick that they could use in 2015.
That is a far better option than the alternative of letting an unhappy Suh play out his contract and sign with a better team in 2015. In this scenario, the Lions would need to rework other players’ contracts to be cap compliant in the 2014 regular season, thus making their future cap prospects worse. At best, they would receive a compensatory pick following the third round of the 2016 draft.
Unless Suh is the key to a deep playoff run in 2014, keeping him in Detroit this season offers no long-term benefit to the health of the franchise. Its not an easy decision, but it is one the Detroit Lions should make.
The Lions have a big decision on their hands regarding star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Suh carries a $22.4 million salary cap charge in 2014 and his contract will become void in 2015, leaving the Lions with a huge cap hit and little else in return.
Poor salary cap management and planning by the Lions front office has all but eliminated the possibility of signing Suh to a contract extension that makes sense for the team. The best option at this point is for the Lions to strongly consider trading Suh to the highest bidder before the preseason concludes.
How the Lions got here
Suh represents one of the last remaining rookie contracts signed under the rules of the 2006 collective bargaining agreement. During the terms of the old CBA, agents and players had a great deal of leeway to ask for major contract concessions from the team. Suh’s contract would run for just five years with an expected value of $60 million and a maximum value of $68 million. A huge chunk of that, $40 million, was virtually guaranteed upon signing.
Because of the salary structures used in these rookie contracts, teams had to avoid modifying the contracts prior to a first extension.
The Lions, however, would proceed to make a disaster out of Suh’s contract, showing almost no thought of long-term planning. Suh’s contract would be reworked for salary cap relief in both 2012 and 2013, pushing salary cap charges further and further into the contract. To make matters worse, Suh’s deal contained a voidable contract year in 2015, which was simply used as a placeholder for salary cap charges. The charges in the voidable year will remain with the Lions whether or not Suh is on the team that season.
Suh’s original contract would have called for a salary cap charge of $16.147 million in 2014 with just $3.472 million left in charges in the 2015 season. Following all of the restructuring, his cap charge grew to $22.4125 million in 2014 with $9.7375 million in charges still sitting in that voidable contract year.
These decisions have compromised the Lions’ ability to negotiate a long-term extension with Suh at a reasonable compensation level and contract structure. Normally teams will threaten a player with a franchise tag when negotiating a contract, and under his prior contract structure, that figure would have been $19.226 million. While that number seems incredibly high, it would be less cash than he would receive in a contract extension and both sides would have reason to get a contract done. Now the cost of the franchise tag will be $26.745 million with a salary cap charge of $36.483 million.
What would Suh cost
The current top of the market contract for a veteran 4-3 defensive tackle is held by Geno Atkins of the Cincinnati Bengals. Atkins signed an extension in 2013 worth just under $10.7 million a season, well below Suh’s current contract figure. While Atkins does not have the reputation that Suh has for being a dominant force on the football field, in terms of basic production Atkins would be considered slightly superior to Suh. Here is a brief statistical comparison of Suh and Atkins over what would be the two years leading up to a new contract:
Suh’s agents will focus on the $12.2 million-a-year contract signed in 2011 by Ravens tackle/end Haloti Ngata. Ngata’s contributions to the Ravens never showed up on a stat sheet and his contract was largely based upon his perceived talent level and reputation for making those around him better. Considering the salary cap has risen by 11 percent since that time, we can probably assume that Suh would be looking for a contract worth $13.5 million a season.
Ndamukong Suh (AP Photo)
The Atkins and Ngata contracts also differ greatly in the way they were structured, and Suh is in a position to demand the Lions use something closer to the Ngata structure. Ngata received $35 million in prorated bonus money, compared to just $15 million for Atkins. Ngata’s bonuses virtually guarantee the first four years of his contract, while Atkins only has the same protection for two years. The cash flows of the contracts illustrate the massive differences in real commitments the teams made to the players.
Why the Lions should not extend Suh
When Ngata was at his peak, the Ravens were one of the top defensive units in the NFL. The Bengals have been that with Atkins. In Suh’s four years in the NFL, the Lions have ranked on average 21st in points allowed and 17th in sacks. Suh may make a big difference on a team with an already solid defense in place, but on the Lions, he has yet to be a difference-maker in terms of team production and there is little reason to think that will change over the next two years. Teams do not compromise their salary structure for a non-difference making player.
There is almost no contract structure that the Lions can utilize to create a favorable situation with Suh. Other teams can use a more modern approach of roster bonuses combined with signing bonuses, but the Lions would likely be locked into a contract containing somewhere in the ballpark of a $30 million signing bonus and two other option bonuses. Such a contract would look like this:
Detroit won’t get better by locking into Suh at these figures. It should not be an option they even consider.
Trading Suh
Moving on from Suh would be the best move the team could make. They would save $12.675 million in cap room in 2014, money that can be rolled over into future seasons to help them cope with the contracts they signed with Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford. They would likely receive at least a second- round draft pick in a trade, a pick that they could use in 2015.
That is a far better option than the alternative of letting an unhappy Suh play out his contract and sign with a better team in 2015. In this scenario, the Lions would need to rework other players’ contracts to be cap compliant in the 2014 regular season, thus making their future cap prospects worse. At best, they would receive a compensatory pick following the third round of the 2016 draft.
Unless Suh is the key to a deep playoff run in 2014, keeping him in Detroit this season offers no long-term benefit to the health of the franchise. Its not an easy decision, but it is one the Detroit Lions should make.
