LogFAQs > #923408344

The Almighty Slash Line

All contracts will be presented to you via slash lines. It is imperative that you interpret and understand a slash line and its components, so here is an example to kick off my seasonal explanation:

3 / $7.50 mil / $1.80 mil

3 = length in seasons that the contract will last. All contracts will end up being between 1-7 seasons in length. There are some in-game and league-mandated limitations on length, but I will explain that rather soon.

$7.50 mil = Total salary that a player will earn over the life of the contract should the contract not be reworked while still under said contract or the player released.

Using this example, the player will receive $7.50 mil over three seasons, which gives him an average cap hit of $2.50 mil. His cap hit will not be $2.50 mil in each season though. This contract will see the player's cap hit rise each season, so his first year cap hit might be $2.12 mil, $2.47 mil for the second season, and $2.91 mil for the final season.

$1.80 mil = Portion of total salary that is guaranteed, aka signing bonus. For most, this is the hardest thing to grasp about the slash line and contracts in general. The NFL does not have fully guaranteed contracts, which means that what a player signs for might not actually be what they receive in the end. The team that signs a player to a contract will always be on the hook for the final figure in a slash line, with the only exception being if a player retires while under contract.

Using this example, the player might have a cap hit of $2.12, $2.47, and $2.91 mil in the first, second, and third seasons. However, his signing bonus is stretched out evenly across every season. The annual bonus in this contract would be $600k ($1.80 mil / 3 years). The annual bonus is a feature on the team financial sheet, so that info will always be available to you.

Now, if you trade or release a player under contract with guaranteed money, you will receive a reduction in your salary cap space, aka cap penalty, that is equal to their annual bonus x the years remaining on their contract. Using this example once again, let's say the player is released after the first season. That would leave him with $1.20 mil left in guaranteed money ($600k annual bonus x 2 years left on contract). The team that signed him to that contract would then be issued a cap penalty the following offseason to the tune of $1.20 mil.

If that player would be traded instead, the original team would receive the same cap penalty, but the new team would have a discounted contract. Because the original team is always on the hook for the guaranteed money, the $1.20 mil that is still owed that player is taken out of the contract for the new team. If the cap hits for years 2 and 3 were originally $2.47 and $2.91 mil and the annual bonus was $600k, then the new cap hits for the new team would be $1.87 and $2.31 mil. The new team could then release or trade the player at any time without financial repercussions since the contract no longer had any guaranteed money attached.

Finally, in case someone doesn't know, mil = dollars in millions while k = dollars in thousands.
---

KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
https://imgur.com/VfpY7tg