Confused on how contracts work

[Da-Phins]

Contracts is a crazy thing and I am confused on how exactly do they work. Say if for example a player has 2 years left to his deal, then he gets a contract extension for like 4 years or whatever. Does his new money start as soon as the new deal kicks in or does it add money to his old deal and it gets spread out in those 6 years? I hope Im making some sense here. If someone could give me a rundown on contracts I would appreciate it.

[BlindSite]

So do you mean does the money start from day 1 or does it start when the original contract period ends?

[Da-Phins]

Originally Posted by BlindSite

So do you mean does the money start from day 1 or does it start when the original contract period ends?

Yeah thats what im asking.

[NY+Giants=NYG]

It depends on the contract and how it is written. But This is how I understand it:

Player A.. Contract 4 years 1 million signing bonus


Yr 1 $250,000

Yr 2 $250,000

Yr 3 $250,000 ----> Extends his contacts 2 years 2 million dollars

( 2 million dollar signing bonus prorated over the 2 remaining original years AND extended years)


Yr 4 $250,000
---------------- Total: 1 million dollars


So now...

Yr 1 $250,000

Yr 2 $250,000

Yr 3 $250,000 + 500,000

Yr 4 $250,000 + 500,000
----------------

Yr 5 500,000

Yr 6 500,000

[OzTitan]

Extensions take effect immediately. A 5 year extension in year 4 of a 6 year deal in 2009-10 means the player is now signed for 2013-14. They were signed for 2011-12. Year 1 of the new 5 year deal takes over from year 4 of the original 6 year deal.

Extensions eliminate the remaining non-guaranteed money, so in this example, year 5 and year 6's base salaries, roster bonuses, performance bonuses etc are gone and replaced by the new details in years 2 and 3 (since year 1 takes effect immediately).

Any guaranteed money left on a deal is added to the total being prorated in the new deal. So if year's 4, 5 and 6 had $1.8M in signing bonus prorated to them from the original deal, that $1.8M will then be added to the new prorated total of the new deal. Hence, you can't escape pro rated signing bonus counting against the cap, unless (I believe) the player pays it back (e.g. Lavar Arrington).