Cut player's salary being excluded from the cap

[Spider-Dan]

This was originally posted in the Shame of the Year thread, but I didn't want to derail the discussion there:

^^^ Hopefully this is a lesson to STOP giving these huge signing bonuses to players, when the "bonus" is actually salary.  Teams should get back to paying normal salaries and normal signing bonuses, except in some rare instances.  They create these huge dead cap numbers so you can't just cut the guy; and it gives players like Jones the means to sit out the entire season with a fantom injury and collect a paycheck.

Personally I'd like to see all contracts guaranteed, and if a player is cut his salary doesn't count against the teams' salary cap.

So what would happen to that player for the rest of his contract?  Is another team required to pick up the full original salary (and its cap hit) if they sign him as a free agent?  If so, it seems like NFL teams would effectively be paying these players the most money specifically to stay off the field.  That seems like a weird set of incentives.

Of course, if you don't require the new team to pick up the old contract, and you allow the player to keep his "guaranteed money," then you would see players getting cut and promptly signing league minimum deals with rich contenders.  I doubt any of us would feel better about this season if the Dolphins had cut Byron Jones (and paid him his full salary) while he signed a league-minimum deal and was playing for DAL or PHI.

Ultimately, it seems like a system like this would provide the most benefit to the richest teams, who could cut any underperformers and splurge every offseason.  The Cowboys would become the Yankees.

[masterfins]

Well if the guy doesn't sign with another team then the Team releasing him would continue to pay out his guaranteed money.  If another team wanted to sign him then they would have to negotiate with the original team for his services.  If the new team picks up all of his old contract then that would go against all of their salary cap.  If the old team has to keep paying a portion of his salary, then that would portion would go against the old team's cap.

[fyo]

I replied the following in the Shame of the Year thread, not realizing a new thread had been created for it (I deleted that post):

Not to derail the thread, but that would effectively kill the salary cap. A rich owner could just give a minimum wage deal for as long as the player actually played, followed by a massive yearly salary for a few years afterward. Huge signing bonuses aren't going away because teams want them to play the cap and players want them because it gives them more money upfront.