910BillsFan Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 With all these big name players (Brady, Roethlisberger, Witten, etc...) restructuring their contracts to help the team's cap space, does this put any pressure on Fitz to do the same? Or does it have no affect on other players? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 No effect. And again, we don't want Fitz to restructure (since it converts base salary to bonus, making it worse when he's cut); we want him to take a pay cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermike Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I think Fitz would be fine restructuring, the problem is if he'd actually accept a pay *cut*. Which those guys didn't do. Fitz is due about $7.5 million this year. He could take that in a check tomorrow, which means it'd be pro-rated out over the last five years of his contract - about $1.5M/per. Add that to his last signing bonus proration, and his cap number drops from $10.5 to $4.5. 6 million in savings ain't nothing, but remember - all money paid hits the cap someday. And Fitz is particularly unlikely to see his 2014, 2015, or 2016 pay. So that six million we save jumps to 2014 if we cut him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 No effect. And again, we don't want Fitz to restructure (since it converts base salary to bonus, making it worse when he's cut); we want him to take a pay cut. doc nailed it - him converting salary to bonus would be worst case scenario as we would be even more strongly tied to him long term. notice those are all guys in the teams long term future? I think Fitz would be fine restructuring, the problem is if he'd actually accept a pay *cut*. Which those guys didn't do. Fitz is due about $7.5 million this year. He could take that in a check tomorrow, which means it'd be pro-rated out over the last five years of his contract - about $1.5M/per. Add that to his last signing bonus proration, and his cap number drops from $10.5 to $4.5. 6 million in savings ain't nothing, but remember - all money paid hits the cap someday. And Fitz is particularly unlikely to see his 2014, 2015, or 2016 pay. So that six million we save jumps to 2014 if we cut him. if fitz was offered the same type of restructure - hed not just be fine with it, it would be the greatest thing that could possibly happen to him. all his money for the year up front and making it harder to get out of the deal next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermike Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 if fitz was offered the same type of restructure - hed not just be fine with it, it would be the greatest thing that could possibly happen to him. all his money for the year up front and making it harder to get out of the deal next year. Oh yeah. Players don't generously agree to re-structure. It's a freebie. And all the more so because future years are far less your problem than the owner/coach/GM's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
910BillsFan Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 No effect. And again, we don't want Fitz to restructure (since it converts base salary to bonus, making it worse when he's cut); we want him to take a pay cut. Ok that makes more sense now. Thanks for the info!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 We don't need the cap space, the Steelers and Patriots do. Fitz restructuring does little for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellyto83TD Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 No effect. And again, we don't want Fitz to restructure (since it converts base salary to bonus, making it worse when he's cut); we want him to take a pay cut. I don't want a pay cut.... just cut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) No effect. And again, we don't want Fitz to restructure (since it converts base salary to bonus, making it worse when he's cut); we want him to take a pay cut. Just quibbling first.....technically a pay cut is a form of contract restructure. I only point this out as many(including myself) include the concept of pay cut when talking about a Fitz restructure. That being said, I agree with you totally. The only way Fitz can help this team is by taking a pay cut.....and even then it won't do too much for us. The logic I'm following is that he will likely expect a deal of around 3.5m from another team as a backup if we cut him. Therefore we will likely need to at most cut his income to around 3.5m/year to keep him. Looking at his 2013.....he is due a 3m bonus and has a 4.25m salary....and another 0.2m bonus......7.45m total. Reducing that to 3.5m total(saving 3.95m) is fine.....but it will still leave us with a 6.5m cap number for him......and a 7m dead money cap number in 2014 if we cut him after the season(regardless of pay cut). We would then be lumbered with him in the 2014 season.....again assuming the same pay cut.....we would be saving 4.05m....but would still be subject to another 6.5m cap number for him.....and a 4m dead money cap number in 2015 if we cut him after the 2014 season. This all assumes that his worth is 3.5m/year. If it is higher our situation is worse....lower our situation gets a bit better. The end result is that even with a pay cut, he will likely be on the roster for 2 seasons....costing the cap 6.5m/season. IMO the Fitz contract was one of the worst decisions made by the Bills in the last decade. Edited February 28, 2013 by Dibs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) Please just cut him and eat it. We are going nowhere with or without him. As for the thoughts of keeping him around as a mentor. Mentor what? How to lose in the last 2 minutes? How to throw a 10 yard dirtball to a wide open 6'7"TE? Anyone here excited about paying money to go to the Ralph and see the same old tired act yet again? I say Brandon doesn't have the balls to field that loser as a starter in 13.If he does he's way dumber than most give him credit for. Edited February 28, 2013 by Best Player Available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Trooth Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 With all these big name players (Brady, Roethlisberger, Witten, etc...) restructuring their contracts to help the team's cap space, does this put any pressure on Fitz to do the same? Or does it have no affect on other players? The players you mention have been significant pieces to their teams and figure into their plans going forward long term So, there's motivation on their part to restructure. Fitz is just a placeholder for the next QB. I'd be stunned if he's on the 2014 roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 What Doc and Silvermike explained is what is usually called a "simple restructure." As they explained, we don't want that for Fitz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 (edited) He needs to take a serious pay cut or be cut. There shouldn't even be a discussion. They pull him into the room and tell him him to take a pay cut or he's gone. I'd offer him 1.75 max, like tjack got Please just cut him and eat it. We are going nowhere with or without him. As for the thoughts of keeping him around as a mentor. Mentor what? How to lose in the last 2 minutes? How to throw a 10 yard dirtball to a wide open 6'7"TE? Anyone here excited about paying money to go to the Ralph and see the same old tired act yet again? I say Brandon doesn't have the balls to field that loser as a starter in 13.If he does he's way dumber than most give him credit for. Lol. Couldn't have said it better myself. Edited March 1, 2013 by NewEra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8-8 Forever? Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Oh yeah. Players don't generously agree to re-structure. It's a freebie. And all the more so because future years are far less your problem than the owner/coach/GM's. Fitz will stand pat. He knows the bills have no QB answer for 2012 other than him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 doc nailed it - him converting salary to bonus would be worst case scenario as we would be even more strongly tied to him long term. notice those are all guys in the teams long term future? if fitz was offered the same type of restructure - hed not just be fine with it, it would be the greatest thing that could possibly happen to him. all his money for the year up front and making it harder to get out of the deal next year. A Mark Sachez type situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I wish everyone would just take a chill pill about Fitz. He shouldn't start, but he's the kind of back up that could win 2-3 of 4-5 games if and when the starter Jackson/Smith/Barkley/Nasib goes down with a popped ganube. It's called insurance people, and most teams need it. People screaming for Fitz to be cut have zero faith in Marrone to evaluate QB talent better than Chan did. Why make a hole at QB Backup when there are so many other holes in this piece of Swiss cheese? It makes NO sense. None. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I wish everyone would just take a chill pill about Fitz. He shouldn't start, but he's the kind of back up that could win 2-3 of 4-5 games if and when the starter Jackson/Smith/Barkley/Nasib goes down with a popped ganube. It's called insurance people, and most teams need it. People screaming for Fitz to be cut have zero faith in Marrone to evaluate QB talent better than Chan did. Why make a hole at QB Backup when there are so many other holes in this piece of Swiss cheese? It makes NO sense. None. Except that no one would pay 7.5M as bonus/salary for a back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Except that no one would pay 7.5M as bonus/salary for a back up. Well, that's a FO problem. They signed the contract too. But they get precious little financial relief if they toss him overboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Well, that's a FO problem. They signed the contract too. But they get precious little financial relief if they toss him overboard. Unfortunately if the HC comes in and tells them (FO) that Fitz will not be his starter, then they have a even bigger problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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