|
A salary cap exists in the NFA. All owners are required to maintain their respective franchises at or below the salary cap, which this year has been raised to $128,000,000 (i.e., the
projected 2009-2010 NFL salary cap). Not all of the money designated as salary cap funds has to be used; but any such remaining funds can be utilized in the acquisition of personnel throughout the season as long as (1) the integrity of the team as far as player position breakdown is maintained and (2) the salary cap is upheld. In addition, all owners are required to maintain their respective franchises at or above the salary floor, which this year has been raised to $109,056,000. This is the minimum amount of money that a franchise may spend at any point throughout the season.
All 2009 NFA player salaries are based on performance statistics from the 2006-2007, 2007-2008
and 2008-2009 NFL seasons. The translation of the performance statistics includes a baseline salary for a constituent year, below which a player cannot go. The baseline is $722,000 for 2006, $772,000 for 2007
and $827,000 for 2008. Those players that were rookies last year will be assigned a base salary of the corresponding season for the benefit of consistent calculations. Rookies this year will be assigned a base salary of $907,000 for 2009.
A franchise player is a player that a franchise designates as a carry-over from season to the next. In so doing, each player kept will also signify a loss of a second-round draft pick on
TBD. That player is offered the average of the top five calculated salaries for the upcoming draft at the player’s position or 120 percent of that player’s calculated salary for the upcoming draft, whichever is greater. If a franchise player is released, that player’s salary is maintained at the franchise tag level.
|
