Alex Smith Injury-Redskins Cap Space

[JetsFan20]

I’m sure many of you read the article on Alex Smiths injury and saw the gruesome pictures that accompanied it. 
 

One thing that I wanted to point out is that Alex Smith accounts for 21MM against the cap this year and he cannot retire without risk of losing guaranteed $.

 

I wish the NFL would create a system where players coming back from specific career threatening injuries do not count against the cap. It would allow the player the choice to either rehab or move on with their life.

 

 

[BarleyNY]

7 minutes ago, JetsFan20 said:

I’m sure many of you read the article on Alex Smiths injury and saw the gruesome pictures that accompanied it. 
 

One thing that I wanted to point out is that Alex Smith accounts for 21MM against the cap this year and he cannot retire without risk of losing guaranteed $.

 

I wish the NFL would create a system where players coming back from specific career threatening injuries do not count against the cap. It would allow the player the choice to either rehab or move on with their life.

 

 

That would be really tough to properly implement because teams could use it as a way to circumvent the salary cap.  I’m not saying that you have a bad idea, just that I can’t see a good way to do it. 

[Just Joshin']

Bad luck for Smith and the team but life is not fair.  Imagine the potential for "injured" players to game the system. 

 

This is a not common but does happen.  The Bills took a hit when Eric Wood was injured if I recall.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Just Joshin'

[DJB]

It's used in the NHL quite a bit and it's super sketch and fishy. 

 

Just look up Marian Hossa and the Blackhawks. 

[BisonMan]

1 hour ago, JetsFan20 said:

I’m sure many of you read the article on Alex Smiths injury and saw the gruesome pictures that accompanied it. 
 

One thing that I wanted to point out is that Alex Smith accounts for 21MM against the cap this year and he cannot retire without risk of losing guaranteed $.

 

I wish the NFL would create a system where players coming back from specific career threatening injuries do not count against the cap. It would allow the player the choice to either rehab or move on with their life.

 

 

Watch the ESPN special on this: “E:60 Project 11”. I started a thread on this and the YouTube link is in the thread. It’s both amazing and disturbing. 

[djp14150]

1 hour ago, JetsFan20 said:

I’m sure many of you read the article on Alex Smiths injury and saw the gruesome pictures that accompanied it. 
 

One thing that I wanted to point out is that Alex Smith accounts for 21MM against the cap this year and he cannot retire without risk of losing guaranteed $.

 

I wish the NFL would create a system where players coming back from specific career threatening injuries do not count against the cap. It would allow the player the choice to either rehab or move on with their life.

 

 

 

 

He wouldnt retire..it’s an NFL injury thus OSHA rules come to bear under workman’s compensation laws which is incorporated in the agreement.

 

that's why injured players getting released come with injury settlements.

 

i agree players who have clear documented injuries that are considered career ending such as his could be moved from the team to an NFLPA list which doesn’t count against the team.  But in order to do this a team must have had insurance on the player.

[Saxum]

3 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

That would be really tough to properly implement because teams could use it as a way to circumvent the salary cap.  I’m not saying that you have a bad idea, just that I can’t see a good way to do it. 

 

Look how much the New England Cheaters violated rules not to mention other teams which have done so in past (i.e. SF in 90s).  I can see why NFLPA would support it - more money from players above cap - but no way should teams which would not have money vote for that.

[North Buffalo]

3 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

That would be really tough to properly implement because teams could use it as a way to circumvent the salary cap.  I’m not saying that you have a bad idea, just that I can’t see a good way to do it. 

Depends... hockey does it... but I think you can only do it if for one player per year and not even sure it is every year... Though there are more leg injuries in football ending one's career than hockey... Make it one every 3 years per team so it used only if exceptional injury no chance of coming back... gives time for player and team to evaluate chance of playing again.

[JetsFan20]

3 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

That would be really tough to properly implement because teams could use it as a way to circumvent the salary cap.  I’m not saying that you have a bad idea, just that I can’t see a good way to do it. 

I think it would be pretty easy. Teams would apply for review and an the league would consider each case individually. 
 

The Jets for example actually fined Quincy Enunwa for missing a rehab assignment last year to take his wife out to lunch for Veterans Day (his wife is in military). Quincy is coming off a second serious neck injury and is likely done in the NFL. He’s not going to go to the team with an injury settlement because he’s not going to risk losing a dime of his guaranteed $ from the team. 
 

The league should step in as an intermediately and tell the Jets that they still have to pay him his guaranteed $, but he doesn’t count against their cap unless activated. That way instead of putting up with BS he can move on with his life and the team can plan accordingly. 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

17 minutes ago, JetsFan20 said:

I think it would be pretty easy. Teams would apply for review and an the league would consider each case individually. 
 

The Jets for example actually fined Quincy Enunwa for missing a rehab assignment last year to take his wife out to lunch for Veterans Day (his wife is in military). Quincy is coming off a second serious neck injury and is likely done in the NFL. He’s not going to go to the team with an injury settlement because he’s not going to risk losing a dime of his guaranteed $ from the team. 
 

The league should step in as an intermediately and tell the Jets that they still have to pay him his guaranteed $, but he doesn’t count against their cap unless activated. That way instead of putting up with BS he can move on with his life and the team can plan accordingly. 

 

So essentially you want the jets to have a different cap than the rest of the league.   This would open the owners to committing more money to players and they would not go for it.    At least that is what I believe.   You win stone you lose some.... sometimes you take a hit that is hard to predict.   Like others pointed out it happened to the bills a couple years ago.   

[MJS]

This would be a perfect comment in the already existing thread about Alex Smith and his injury story.

[BarleyNY]

3 hours ago, mattynh said:

So essentially you want the jets to have a different cap than the rest of the league.   This would open the owners to committing more money to players and they would not go for it.    At least that is what I believe.   You win stone you lose some.... sometimes you take a hit that is hard to predict.   Like others pointed out it happened to the bills a couple years ago.   

That’s definitely one of the problems I see.  The other is team using it to circumvent the cap.  I think of player like Roethlisberger.  He has a crazy amount of dead cap on his contract due to the Steelers creating space by turning his salary into a bonus several times.  He was also injured last season.  Not so much so that he couldn’t play again, but a rule like what’s proposed here could make it convenient for a team and player to conspire.  He walks away and gets paid while the team gets cap space back.  There’s just too much grey area for something like this.

[Hardhatharry]

I think Alex has made enough money, if I was the Redskins I would just cut loose.

[BarleyNY]

13 minutes ago, Hardhatharry said:

I think Alex has made enough money, if I was the Redskins I would just cut loose.

They can’t until after this season due to injury guarantees in his contract.  

[machine gun kelly]

I don’t believe in making exceptions even in this scenario.  I really like Alex Smith and wish nothing but the best for him.  It’s not his fault he received a catastrophic injury.  So the Redskins eat it on this one, but the Bills could be next as you never know when a horrible injury is around the corner.

[TigerJ]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

They can’t until after this season due to injury guarantees in his contract.  

Could they, with a release after June 1, spread the cap hit over a couple seasons as teams can do with signing bonus money?  That doesn't jeopardize the player's income.  There wouldn't seem to be any reason the league couldn't write the rules that way.  I just don't know what the rules are.

[T master]

11 hours ago, JetsFan20 said:

I’m sure many of you read the article on Alex Smiths injury and saw the gruesome pictures that accompanied it. 
 

One thing that I wanted to point out is that Alex Smith accounts for 21MM against the cap this year and he cannot retire without risk of losing guaranteed $.

 

I wish the NFL would create a system where players coming back from specific career threatening injuries do not count against the cap. It would allow the player the choice to either rehab or move on with their life.

 

 

 

I can't blame Smith for wanting his cash he was playing for the Skins at the time of the injury & because it happened while playing in a game i would think that if he couldn't come back the contract should be honored it may be different if he's out screwing around & he gets hurt but his was while honoring his side of the contract .

 

If i had that kind of cash coming i would do most everything i had to ignorer to get it ! As far as him playing again i'm pretty sure with the change over in washington he won't be under any center soon for that team unless it's as a camp body, given the fact the coaching staff that brought him in is no longer there I'c say he's done for the Skins the only thing left for him to do is to collect his money .

 

With all the FA QB's with out a job still i'm think his chances of playing again are pretty slim which definitely puts the Skins in a bad place as far as cap space & money's owed ... If they release him then the Skins are nothing but a big turd but Snyder has spent more bad money than most on players at least Smith was a good player with bad misfortune .

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

12 hours ago, djp14150 said:

 

 

He wouldnt retire..it’s an NFL injury thus OSHA rules come to bear under workman’s compensation laws which is incorporated in the agreement.

 

that's why injured players getting released come with injury settlements.

 

i agree players who have clear documented injuries that are considered career ending such as his could be moved from the team to an NFLPA list which doesn’t count against the team.  But in order to do this a team must have had insurance on the player.

Actually, OSHA has very little to do with this.  Workers are covered by state worker's compensation laws.  In his case he was clearly injured at work and would be entitled to receive a payment under the applicable provisions of the law.  In this situation, the collective bargaining agreement provides financial protection which far exceeds the relatively meager compensation given to workers covered by those state laws.  If the NFL management bargaining committee was semi- competent, they will have an offset provision whereby any workers compensation payment received by the player would be subtracted from any payments made by the team/league to the player.  In addition to all of this, many players carry personal insurance to pay them in the event that they suffer career ending injuries and some players negotiate the payment of these premiums into their contracts so that they are paid by the team.  You are exactly correct about the injury settlements.  They are covered by the collective bargaining agreement.  The bottom line here is that there are multiple avenues for players to follow to protect their financial future.  Alex Smith is a smart guy and I bet he has his bases covered.  The cap hit is the team's problem.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Florida Bills Fanatic

[Just Joshin']

3 hours ago, Hardhatharry said:

I think Alex has made enough money, if I was the Redskins I would just cut loose.

You have the sides mixed up.

 

If cut, he still gets paid due to the guarantees.

 

If he retires, he does not get paid.

 

Key question: would you walk away from that money even if you have made a good living already?

[BarleyNY]

On 5/4/2020 at 9:53 AM, TigerJ said:

Could they, with a release after June 1, spread the cap hit over a couple seasons as teams can do with signing bonus money?  That doesn't jeopardize the player's income.  There wouldn't seem to be any reason the league couldn't write the rules that way.  I just don't know what the rules are.

They could designate him a post June 1 release NEXT season to spread out his remaining dead cap hit of $10.8M over two seasons instead of one, but that’s it.  Or they could come to an injury settlement with him at any time.

 

Washington made what I consider to be as serious of a mistake as imaginable with Smith’s contract structure - and that is separate from any conversation about the amount of money they gave Smith.  There are no roster bonuses in later years.  Those are clean, easy outs for teams in cases like this.  Without that out, there remains a possibility that - even after paying him $71M - Washington will have to come to an injury settlement with Smith next March.  I cannot possibly overstate how egregious of a mistake of such a basic element of contract structure this was by Washington.  
 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/washington-redskins/alex-smith-3337/

On 5/4/2020 at 10:37 AM, Just Joshin' said:

You have the sides mixed up.

 

If cut, he still gets paid due to the guarantees.

 

If he retires, he does not get paid.

 

Key question: would you walk away from that money even if you have made a good living already?

He would still get this season’s salary due to it being guaranteed for injury. 

Edited May 5, 2020 by BarleyNY