Under the Cap: Moss and Jansen

by J.I. Halsell

Many were surprised last week when the Redskins terminated the contract of veteran right tackle Jon Jansen. The move was surprising because, in spite of his diminishing skill, many around the league felt that the team would not be willing to live with the increased cap number associated with terminating Jansen, $6.1 million, versus keeping him possibly as a reserve at $4.5 million. Jansen’s termination signaled that the Redskins were indeed willing to live with a dead money cap charge of $6.1 million; however, in looking at their recent contract activity it would appear that the recent renegotiation of wide receiver Santana Moss played a direct role in the release of Jansen.

Santana Moss celebrated his 30th birthday over the weekend, and he had 6.2 million reasons to celebrate, as in the $6.2 million signing bonus paid to Moss from his mid-May contract renegotiation. If the Eagles are known for signing players to early extensions, the Redskins are known for guaranteeing previously non-guaranteed money in order to create short-term cap space, and that’s what the Redskins did with Moss.

Per NFLPA records, the above tables show that under his old contract, Moss was suppose to make $8 million in non-guaranteed P5 (salary) over 2009 and 2010. By renegotiating his contract, the Redskins have guaranteed $6,286,500 of that P5 via Signing Bonus, thereby reducing his P5 amounts to $745,000 and $968,500 respectively in 2009 and 2010. The effect of this maneuver is cap savings of $1,697,700 in 2009 and $2,074,200 in 2010. In 2011, one will notice that in both tables his P5’s say “Void,” this is to illustrate that Moss’ contract voids after the 2010 season in both his old deal and his new deal. Under his old deal, in 2011 the Redskins would have been saddled with Bonus Acceleration of $1,711,000. Under his new deal, the team will be saddled with $5,482,900 of Bonus Acceleration; this would be considered Dead Money as Moss would no longer be a member of the team.

In essence, the Redskins chose to use Moss’ $1.7 million in cap savings on Jansen’s additional $1.6 million cap charge. In 2011, just as the Redskins are currently saddled with a $6.1 million dead money charge for Jansen, they will be saddled with a $5.5 million dead money charge for Moss, so it’ll be interesting (assuming there is a cap) to see who the Redskins push money out with in 2011 in order to live under the cap with this dead money amount. Other players who could potentially count for significant dead money in the future are Clinton Portis, Andre Carter, and Antwaan Randle El, as these players have been recipients of the Redskins’ money-pushing technique.

The fact of the matter is that a club can continue to push money out for as long as they can, but at some point you have to “pay the piper” when a player’s skill has diminished or they’re simply no longer needed. In managing the cap, it’s a matter of taking your dead money medicine now or later, but taking your medicine is an inevitability. This money-pushing technique has allowed the high-spending Redskins to survive without having to blow up the team, so you can’t exactly knock the technique, but at the same time as our economy has proven, there’s something to be said for financial conservation and prudence versus high-spending quick fixes.

Speaking of which... tomorrow, Under the Cap will take a look at salary cap efficiency, and which teams got the most wins for their salary cap spending in 2008.