This deal only makes sense if he is an upstanding citizen. If and when he gets suspended by the league (he is facing sexual assault allegations from 22 women) then the Browns will look mighty stupid.
I do think the contract is reasonable by NFL standards for a QB of his talent. The season before all the allegations, he carried my fantasy team.
I just think that if 22 women are claiming assault then there’s a high likelihood that he’s a terrible criminal and belongs in jail.
I didn’t think the Browns could get any dumber, yet here we are.
Guessing the salary is guaranteed ONLY if playing, not suspended, or is released due to cause (like going to jail).
Good news for them is they cannot draft a shitty QB for three years, assuming no trades. That is an impressive streak for the Browns.
If the Bears had Baker Mayfield, he would be the best QB in the history of the Bears franchise.
Well…
Maybe they could. Apparently Watson’s salary for 2022 is $1M. It was structured that way so that if a suspension comes down he’ll only miss out on proration of the $1M. If he is suspended, it almost certainly would be for the upcoming season.
I can see why he’d structure things that way.
Man I hope the league can nix that idea, though.
If he is guilty, his victims should ultimately enjoy the majority of that 200+M.
If he loses his civil suit(s), I imagine the victims will be paid well. In fact, this contract provides a deeper piggy bank to go after
This Watson saga has been tearing the ATL fan base up. The front office has pissed off nearly 100% of fans:
Fans that are disappointed the club would make someone a cornerstone of the franchise when accused by so many of sexual assault
Fans that thought it was time to move on from Ryan are angry they got played and didn’t land the new franchise QB
Fans that love Matt Ryan didn’t appreciate the way Ryan was treated in all this
Fans that thought it was stupid to pay that kind of guaranteed money plus draft picks for a team that needs help in many spots.
Fans that think it looks like the franchise doesn’t know WTF it’s doing
Some fans are quitting the team over this. Who knows if the relationship with Ryan can be salvaged for another season. With all this happening on top of the baseball deals, it’s been one of the wilder weeks in Atlanta sports for things that didn’t happen on the field.
IMO, the Braves handled the Freeman situation very well. The Falcons front office fumbled this in so many ways it’s hard to count.
that is a common structure in general for lots of players who sign a new deal. lots of guys have their salary for a given year reduced to min while the balance is converted to “bonus” payable today to facilitate a salary cap manipulation. (A legal one)
there was someone else in the last few years who was facing suspension and the team did the conversion to minimize the lost salary. (I think it was Brady with NE when the deflategate stuff was expected to come)
So losing weekly salary while suspended makes sense. But if they went after bonuses paid to be earned over some other period or alleged to be just for signing a contract…not sure how they claw that back without a fight.
Yes, Brady did this.
I mean, there’s an easy solution. If a player is suspended for four games he loses 4 * {1 / (17 * [total years in contract]} * [total value of contract including bonuses] worth of pay.
You want to keep your “signing bonus”? Don’t get suspended for cheating at football or beating up women. It’s not complicated.
And if the league expands the season after your fine but before your contract runs out… well then, sucks to be you.
I distinctly remember that I signed something agreeing to repay a prorated portion of my sign-on bonus if I did not work at the company for at least 1 year.
This would be sort of similar. (Of course my sign-on bonus was pretty puny compared to Tom Brady’s, but still…)
They could call it the “cheating & beating clause”. I do not want to lose this deal.
BTW, I assume this will never happen because I’m assuming that the league cares more about appearances than actually putting its foot down regarding penalizing cheating and beating up women.
the contract structures are too complex (as allowed to suit a variety of needs) to really work for that. When a guy has a contract with “void” years that contribute dollars to the global total but are truthfully a fiction - what there?
They could put guys under investigation in a category where they can’t reduce salary/convert contracts while in that category, and would push the league to sort it out sooner than the current pace. but some guys get suspended while free agents too, so then I have no idea how to settle it.
They could always make it prorated over the guy’s income the next 5 years (eating up salary cap) or however long he plays, whichever is less.
So say he is suspended for four games in 2022 and he ends up finishing the 22 season plus 3 more seasons and his earnings are as follows:
2022: $1,000,000
2023: $9,000,000
2024: $5,000,000
2025: $5,000,000
2026: retired
Then he averaged $5,000,000 a year and his fine ends up being 4/17ths of $5,000,000. Not 4/17ths of $1,000,000.
Maybe you’d even need to prorate it by game rather than by season. Not sure. But something like that so the guy can’t avoid 4/17ths of $4,000,000 by restructuring his contract.
Yeah, you won’t know the exact amounts from the outset, but they can true it up periodically.
Also, as it is now the team he is currently on saves on salary cap for the amount not paid in salary.
So a current team could get more benefit than a later team if he is traded?
A team can force a negotiation for lower salary (under threat of cutting the player) so future payments are uncertain.
Etc.
I get what you are saying. But with the salcap, maybe they could bar changes to a contract while under investigation to avoid a manipulation. But manipulations to the benefit of the team happen all the time. But maybe that’s just more penalty for having a guy under investigation.
That’s messed up IMO.
I could see maybe allowing the freed-up cap space specifically for the guy’s replacement player specifically for those four gates. But not to be spread out however the teams sees fit.
they didn’t pay him, so it “saves” them on the cap. Yes, they have to replace him and pay money but that’s usually at a league-min level, so in most cases there is a small cap benefit of having a guy suspended. but if they already have a backup, they can use the roster spot and related cap “relief” on whatever they want.
Matt Ryan is now a Colt and the Falcons have a hole at QB
Just QB?
No. Falcons have no QB, no WR, no edge rushers, need help at G and C, need at least 1 more LB, could use another DB