Quote:
Originally Posted by Chief Roundup
Where is the cut-off on the guaranteed contracts? I know that some of the 1st rounders contracts are 100% guaranteed but I don't think all 32 are 100% guaranteed.
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There really isn't a provision for "guaranteeing" a contract 100% other than the fact that if a contract is guaranteed in the 3rd or 4th years then the preceding years must be equivocally guaranteed, no matter if it's for skill, injury or termination.
The rule from the CBA is in this spoiler:
Spoiler!
(h) Guaranteed Rookie Salary. Rookie Salary (excluding the performance
incentives described in Section 6 below) may be guaranteed for skill, football-related
injury and/or Salary Cap-related contract terminations provided that no player’s Rookie
Salary (excluding performance incentives) in his third League Year or fourth League Year
(for Drafted Rookies) may be guaranteed for skill, football-related injury or Salary Caprelated contract termination unless the player’s entire Rookie Salary (excluding performance incentives) has been similarly guaranteed (i.e., for the same type(s) of contract
termination) in the immediately preceding year of the contract. By way of example, if a
Drafted Rookie signs a four-year contract with Rookie Salary (excluding performance
incentives) of $1,000,000 in year one, $1,250,000 in year two, $1,500,000 in year three,
and $1,750,000 in year four, no portion of his year-four Rookie Salary may be guaranteed
for skill and injury unless the player’s full Rookie Salary (excluding performance incentives) for year two ($1,250,000) and year three ($1,500,000) is also guaranteed for skill
and injury. For the avoidance of doubt, and by way of further example, a Club may guarantee year-four Rookie Salary for injury only when the Club also guarantees years two
and three either just for injury, or for injury, skill, and Salary Cap-related termination.
As such, most 1st round contracts are guaranteed for skill over the duration of the contract. That said, there has been a tail-off after about pick 22 or so in terms of contracts being fully guaranteed. You start seeing a trend whereby the contracts become only guaranteed for years 1-3 and then decrease as the draft goes with 2nd round players being guaranteed for years 1-2 and 3rd rounders for year 1 only, etc.