Cutting Sam Bradford

[scifiman]

I know it has been brought up before in some post but what are the ramifications for the salary cap etc by cutting Bradford now? Do we save anything on the cap this your or next? I know we have the least amount of salary cap left in the nfl right now so was wondering why we are not doing this now as it should be obvious to everyone involved that Bradford no longer figures into the long term qb position for the rams.
Unless and until Bradford could conceivably show he is 100% healthy I would think that cutting him and signing him to at most an incentive laden contract would be the only logical course of action with him going forward.

 

[Rams4life]

I think they will ask him to take a pay cut. He won't of course and be dealt or cut. That's the only way i see him back is with a giant pay cut.

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

Shocking, coming from you...just shocking
I guess we'll just have to wait and see

 

[ReddingRam]

As much as a Bradford supporter as I am and have been, there is no way I can see them bringing him back now. Especially on his current deal. The variables with that knee now are just too great. We must move on and try and get the future going.

 

[-X-]

Once you cut him, you kind of lose the right to sign him again unless he's amenable to it. So it's not as simple as cutting/signing. There's also an injury settlement to negotiate -- and only the remainder of which (difference between salary and payout) translates to a cap savings. And why do they need lots of cap space now? The team is signed and ready to go.

 

[Yamahopper]

That's a problem for the offseason.

 

[Fatbot]

Bradford salary cap hit as of now:
2014: $17,610,000
2015: $16,580,000

Cutting Bradford now, it changes to:
2014: $17,610,000 (no change)
2015: $3,595,000 (dead money)

 

[PrometheusFaulk]

It makes zero sense to cut him until the league year ends. He's paid, his cap hit has been assessed entirely. There is no risk in keeping him to see how his recovery goes.

When the 2015 league year starts, that's the time to talk.

 

[ramsince62]

Once you cut him, you kind of lose the right to sign him again unless he's amenable to it. So it's not as simple as cutting/signing. There's also an injury settlement to negotiate -- and only the remainder of which (difference between salary and payout) translates to a cap savings. And why do they need lots of cap space now? The team is signed and ready to go.

They probably still need another QB, but at this point, I suppose whoever it is won't cost that much.

 

[scifiman]

It makes zero sense to cut him until the league year ends. He's paid, his cap hit has been assessed entirely. There is no risk in keeping him to see how his recovery goes.

When the 2015 league year starts, that's the time to talk.

Thats the info I was looking for. Seeing if there was any cap advantage to cutting him now. Thank you.

 

[Robocop]

so with a league already slim on good starting QB options for us and injured or not you want to cut the only starting QB we have, completely alienating him and then go into the future with Hill and drafting a rookie next year to compete with a backup...

wouldn't a more strategic plan be trying to restructure and/or creating a new deal based heavily on performance based incentives or with back end money. just saw Kap do it

 

[Robocop]

I think they will ask him to take a pay cut. He won't of course and be dealt or cut. That's the only way i see him back is with a giant pay cut.

what do you know about him that you would say "of course" he won't take a pay cut and restructure?

 

[snackdaddy]

They're not doing anything with Bradford until the offseason is here. No reason to. Why not wait and see what transpires with everything? His recovery. Who's available via draft and free agency. All that stuff has to be sorted out. There's no advantage to cut him now. We don't even know where we will draft. Could be bottom 20. Could be top 10.

 

[OldRock]

I'd like to wait until Sam has his operation and find out the severity of his knee damage and the prognosis before writing him out of our future.

 

[Rams4life]

what do you know about him that you would say "of course" he won't take a pay cut and restructure?

Why would he? He makes a ton of money. The rams have approached him about doing it a couple of times and he has passed. Maybe the injury changes things for him. Who knows.

 

[bluecoconuts]

I doubt they cut him. I think at the very least they're going to allow his contract to expire, unless they find a viable long term better (better being the key word) option than Sam. If they don't and he plays well next year then he will get an extension, with loads of clauses. If he doesn't stay healthy they look elsewhere. Until they have a viable long term option though, we're stuck right where we are now, Sam or no Sam.


Sam can still be that option, but it's going to take work, and will depend on how much he wants it.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Why would he? He makes a ton of money. The rams have approached him about doing it a couple of times and he has passed. Maybe the injury changes things for him. Who knows.

I dont think it's Sam, but rather his agent. I believe he's known for that type of stuff. Get every dollar you can, and hold out if you can't.

 

[Fatbot]

wouldn't a more strategic plan be trying to restructure and/or creating a new deal based heavily on performance based incentives or with back end money

Yes but the problem is baggage and leverage. The Rams will have invested five years waiting for Bradford. They owe him one more year under the contract. A restructure usually means adding at least another year. Do the Rams really want to risk signing Bradford to multiple years with his injury risk?

If you think that SB would just agree to rip up his current contract and give the Rams a salary-cap friendly new one-year contract, that will not happen. SB's agent is the most cut-throat agent when it comes to representing QBs. He will say "we have a contract, SB will be healthy and ready to go at a high level in 2015, pay him or cut him." There are 31 other NFL teams without the baggage of his previous contract/injuries that would be happy to pay SB a prove-it contract, probably as much or more than the Rams would offer.

Sadly, the Rams have no leverage. They will either let him go and get nothing for those five years, or the "best case scenario" is pay him what's owed in the final year, hope he stays healthy and plays well, and in the middle of that season try to negotiate an extension -- where again he will hold all the leverage, but at least in this scenario the Rams would be winning in 2015.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Leave Bradford alone! (In that scary tranny's voice).

 

[Robocop]

Why would he? He makes a ton of money. The rams have approached him about doing it a couple of times and he has passed. Maybe the injury changes things for him. Who knows.

http://profootball.scout.com/story/1190445-sam-bradford-restructured-deal
did it at least once pushing back $6 million. If he's turned down others I'd like to see an article to look into it. Fisher has stuck his neck out for Bradford. I don't see him as the type of guy who wouldn't return the favor.