Knox "Reworks" Deal Frees Cap

[ColoradoBills]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:35 PM, BarleyNY said:

 

Certainly possible. I don’t think I’d do that if I were Knox though. I’d take my $5M and go play for another team where I’d make a lot more than $2M. 

Expand  

 

He could do that but I'm betting he knows in the long run he makes more staying in Buffalo and taking small salary cuts each year.

He likes Buffalo (remember how happy he was when he bought his home) and HAS to know he signed an overpaid contract.

 

His contract is through the 2026 season and if I was him, I would take the small pay cut.  If he goes to a new team and has a bad year

or gets injured again he could end up playing for less than $5M every year going forward.  

[FireChans]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:18 PM, JohnNord said:

Ok so no evidence..got it

Expand  

@HappyDays had called quite a few things, including, most recently, the approach to Knox for a paycut well before it was announced by the team.

 

 

[BuffaloRebound]

My guess is Knox reworked deal is very similar to Hunter Henry’s 3 year $27m deal with $15 guaranteed.  He’s trading his bigger deal for more guaranteed money.  Bills want him on team next couple of years but at a lower number.  

[DrDawkinstein]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:35 PM, BarleyNY said:

 

Certainly possible. I don’t think I’d do that if I were Knox though. I’d take my $5M and go play for another team where I’d make a lot more than $2M. 

Expand  

 

You certainly could.

 

But at 27 and already sitting on likely $15M cash, staying here on a well-run team with a great QB is probably worth that $3M, as opposed to landing on... the Raiders, let's say, and having a horribly un-fun year on a poorly run and coached team, with no QB. And then be out of the league in 2025.

 

I'm always in favor of players getting as much cash as they can, but sometimes there is a bigger picture that will earn you more in the long run as opposed to just this year.

[LABILLBACKER]

  On 3/11/2024 at 2:25 PM, Process said:

Love Dawson but it's pretty crazy that he was counting $14.4M against the cap in the first place. Stuff like that is why we are in this mess. 

Expand  

Exactly...if you want to avoid restructures, void years, cap hell or kicking the can down the road to screw you later, just stop overpaying for less productive players. This isn't rocket science, it's called preventative medicine. 

[Aussie Joe]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:50 PM, BuffaloRebound said:

My guess is Knox reworked deal is very similar to Hunter Henry’s 3 year $27m deal with $15 guaranteed.  He’s trading his bigger deal for more guaranteed money.  Bills want him on team next couple of years but at a lower number.  

Expand  

Great ..that will make it easier to trade him in 2025 ..

[SCBills]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:50 PM, DrDawkinstein said:

 

You certainly could.

 

But at 27 and already sitting on likely $15M cash, staying here on a well-run team with a great QB is probably worth that $3M, as opposed to landing on... the Raiders, let's say, and having a horribly un-fun year on a poorly run and coached team, with no QB. And then be out of the league in 2025.

 

I'm always in favor of players getting as much cash as they can, but sometimes there is a bigger picture that will earn you more in the long run as opposed to just this year.

Expand  

 

Yea, someone like Dawson Knox does seem like he'd be willing to just take less to stay with Josh Allen and this organization.  He's been through a lot in his personal life and it seems like he respects how the team/community rallied around him.  If you ever hear him talk, money never comes across as a massive factor.  Faith & Family seem to be his driving factors. 

[MJS]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:55 PM, Aussie Joe said:

Great ..that will make it easier to trade him in 2025 ..

Expand  

Why? He's a good player.

[Niagara Dude]

I'm thrilled that Knox realized that his cap number was never going to fly and had to agree to reworking his deal. I want him on the team but not at 14 million cap space.

[LABILLBACKER]

  On 3/11/2024 at 2:28 PM, HappyDays said:

I was told a couple weeks ago Knox was approached about a paycut. I'm not sure what leverage we used considering his dead money hit would have been higher than his normal cap hit, but I'm glad to see he accepted the paycut. Perhaps we threatened a release with a post-6/1 designation?

 

Glad to see Beane being especially ruthless this offseason. It is a necessary change.

Expand  

I for one am extremely proud of what Beane is doing this off season. This may be painful for some players but it's beyond necessary for the future success of this team.

[DrDawkinstein]

  On 3/11/2024 at 4:00 PM, LABILLBACKER said:

I for one am extremely proud of what Beane is doing this off season. This may be painful for some players but it's beyond necessary for the future success of this team.

Expand  

 

And it's not that painful considering we're talking about guys who are all multi-millionaires already.

[Aussie Joe]

  On 3/11/2024 at 4:00 PM, MJS said:

Why? He's a good player.

Expand  

Yes he is a good player and has trade value …

 

He is still overpaid unfortunately for his role on the team… even at $9m a year …

 

Someone will see him as a TE1…

[JohnNord]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:49 PM, FireChans said:

@HappyDays had called quite a few things, including, most recently, the approach to Knox for a paycut well before it was announced by the team.

 

 

Expand  

Ok can you give me some examples of what he’s called out?  I haven’t been following this place too closely - just want to know

[DrDawkinstein]

  On 3/11/2024 at 4:04 PM, JohnNord said:

Ok can you give me some examples of what he’s called out?  I haven’t been following this place too closely - just want to know

Expand  

 

He just did. Either believe it or dont. It doesnt matter. Like I said, pay more attention going forward if it's that important to you.

[FireChans]

  On 3/11/2024 at 4:04 PM, JohnNord said:

Ok can you give me some examples of what he’s called out?  I haven’t been following this place too closely - just want to know

Expand  

He called the Knox rework. Was probably last week.

 

he called the Rousseau foot injury I think last season.

 

Hes had others but I can’t remember off the top of my head.

 

 

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

  On 3/11/2024 at 4:04 PM, JohnNord said:

Ok can you give me some examples of what he’s called out?  I haven’t been following this place too closely - just want to know

Expand  

Somebody listed like 4 things during the season do you have functional eyeballs or do we need to spoon the words straight down your throat into your stomach or what dawg cause we here for you

[HappyDays]

  On 3/11/2024 at 2:59 PM, drummernut74 said:

Because they are true team players that want to WIN in Buffalo, and have a unique set of principles 

Expand  

 

That almost certainly is not it. Everyone in the NFL is greedy, as they should be. They are getting advised by greedy agents. Players take pay cuts because the alternative is entering a crowded free agent market and risking an even worse salary than what the pay cut offers them.

[HappyDays]

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:01 PM, Warcodered said:

If they get released and signed somewhere else they still get paid, that's why there's dead money right?

Expand  

 

No, dead money usually represents salary that has already been paid to the player and the team has used creative accounting to kick the salary cap implications to future years. Knox now is thinking about what money he'll be earning this year. Being released into a FA market versus taking say a $4M pay cut, his agent will tell him he's likely to lose more than that on the open market so take the pay cut.

 

  On 3/11/2024 at 3:01 PM, Warcodered said:

Typically what's common is they move money around and the players actually benefit more from the restructure in some way and the can is kicked down the road, but they don't lose money.

Expand  

 

Restructure is not the same as rework. Restructure doesn't require the player's approval because it doesn't change the money in their pocket, it just converts salary into some sort of bonus (usually a signing bonus) that spreads the cap hit out over several years. A rework is a more polite way of saying pay cut, or occasionally a pay increase if the player is the one with leverage. No doubt about it, Knox has taken a straight up pay cut. Perhaps there will be incentives that can earn him most of the money back like what we did with Von, but it is still classified as a pay cut.

[DrDawkinstein]

  On 3/11/2024 at 4:56 PM, HappyDays said:

 

No, dead money usually represents salary that has already been paid to the player and the team has used creative accounting to kick the salary cap implications to future years. Knox now is thinking about what money he'll be earning this year. Being released into a FA market versus taking say a $4M pay cut, his agent will tell him he's likely to lose more than that on the open market so take the pay cut.

 

Expand  

 

And is there any scenario more scary or uncertain than an overpaid under-performer getting cut right as FA starts? Especially for a guy who was a walk-on in college, parlayed it to a 3d round pick, and parlayed that into a $52M contract which he has already earned $25M of?

 

And especially as a TE in this market.

[JohnNord]

  On 3/11/2024 at 4:11 PM, FireChans said:

He called the Knox rework. Was probably last week.

 

he called the Rousseau foot injury I think last season.

 

Hes had others but I can’t remember off the top of my head.

 

 

Expand  

Thanks for sharing actual examples rather than just screaming at me.  Appreciate that