2018 Free Agency: UFA Signing

[Dream Walker]

CCV is not the salary offered.

You use the FMV to determine a minimum salary which in this case is a cold million. So 500k can be a bonus. And then when you send an offer you based it in the CCV number. Again CCV is not the salary offered.

[Seattle_GM]

CCV is not the salary offered.

You use the FMV to determine a minimum salary which in this case is a cold million. So 500k can be a bonus. And then when you send an offer you based it in the CCV number. Again CCV is not the salary offered.

Yeah I get that. I wasn’t aware that the signing bonus is based off the FMV, not the actual yearly salary offered.

[KirkAvalanche]

CCV is not the salary offered.

You use the FMV to determine a minimum salary which in this case is a cold million. So 500k can be a bonus. And then when you send an offer you based it in the CCV number. Again CCV is not the salary offered.

Yeah I get that. I wasn’t aware that the signing bonus is based off the FMV, not the actual yearly salary offered.

It is based off of the yearly salary. If player A has a FMV of 4 million, but I choose to pay him 5 million over 1 season. His max signing bonus is 50% of the TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE.. In this case that number is 5 million, therefore I can give him a signing bonus of up to 2.5 million. Imagine I want to sign the same player for 4 seasons, now his TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE is 20 million - I can give him a bonus of 30% of the 20 Million, so 20 x .3 = 6 I can pay this player a contract of 5 million x 4 years with a bonus of up to 6 million.

Hope that cleared it up a little

[Seattle_GM]

So back to my original question, if the FMV doesn’t matter and the yearly salary offered is $650,000 for 1 year shouldn’t the max bonus be $325,000?

[KirkAvalanche]

So back to my original question, if the FMV doesn’t matter and the yearly salary offered is $650,000 for 1 year shouldn’t the max bonus be $325,000?

This is straight from the CBA hopefully it helps better than my explanation...

For an unrestricted free agent,franchise player (UFA),or entry-level player, a signing bonus can be used to raise the TCV of an offered contract, while also reducing the FMV value required to sign the player.

Mats Zuccarello is a UFA with an OV of 69. His FMV is $3,125,000. A qualifying offer of a 1-year contract for Zuccarello could be $1,562,500 base salary with a $1,562,500 signing bonus.

In the Matt Martin signing, the bonus was used to reduce the FMV. So Martin needed to be paid ATLEAST 1 million between salary and or bonuses. On a 1 year deal the max bonus is 50% of the salary which in this case was his exact FMV (1,000,000) He actually could've been paid a bonus of up to 500k and his salary for the year would then be 500k.

[Seattle_GM]

So back to my original question, if the FMV doesn’t matter and the yearly salary offered is $650,000 for 1 year shouldn’t the max bonus be $325,000?

This is straight from the CBA hopefully it helps better than my explanation...

For an unrestricted free agent,franchise player (UFA),or entry-level player, a signing bonus can be used to raise the TCV of an offered contract, while also reducing the FMV value required to sign the player.

Mats Zuccarello is a UFA with an OV of 69. His FMV is $3,125,000. A qualifying offer of a 1-year contract for Zuccarello could be $1,562,500 base salary with a $1,562,500 signing bonus.

In the Matt Martin signing, the bonus was used to reduce the FMV. So Martin needed to be paid ATLEAST 1 million between salary and or bonuses. On a 1 year deal the max bonus is 50% of the salary which in this case was his exact FMV (1,000,000) He actually could've been paid a bonus of up to 500k and his salary for the year would then be 500k.

Alright. It’s still a bit confusing to me for some reason but I appreciate everyone trying to clear it up for me.

[IslesGM]

In the Matt Martin signing, the bonus was used to reduce the FMV. So Martin needed to be paid ATLEAST 1 million between salary and or bonuses. On a 1 year deal the max bonus is 50% of the salary which in this case was his exact FMV (1,000,000) He actually could've been paid a bonus of up to 500k and his salary for the year would then be 500k.

In this case I don't think that would work because the league minimum salary is $650K. But the math still applies.

[KirkAvalanche]

In the Matt Martin signing, the bonus was used to reduce the FMV. So Martin needed to be paid ATLEAST 1 million between salary and or bonuses. On a 1 year deal the max bonus is 50% of the salary which in this case was his exact FMV (1,000,000) He actually could've been paid a bonus of up to 500k and his salary for the year would then be 500k.

In this case I don't think that would work because the league minimum salary is $650K. But the math still applies.

Right. Which is why I believe Martin was signed to 650k with a 350 k bonus

[Sweet_Doug]

Sitting here.....patiently waiting.

[Kevin]

Can someone explain the Matt Martin signing? I thought the max bonus for 1 year was <=50% of the salary? Isn't 50% of $650,000 $325,000? How was the bonus allowed to be $400,000? The CCV matches what the calculator says so I don't believe this to be clerical misprint. Just to clarify, I didn't offer him a contract and don't care who he signed with, just wondering how the rules are applied.

His FMV was $1,000,000 so on a one year deal the max signing bonus is 50% of the TOTAL contract value. So in this case, Matt Martin was eligible to receive a bonus of up to 500 K. You can use signing bonuses to bring the cap hit down.

This is correct. The minimum you must pay is the FMV. So if you want to pay a base salary below the FMV, you must pay the difference as a signing bonus. The limit on how much is tabled in the CBA. Those percentages are based on the total amount of the contract.

In an example of a one-year contract, you can cut the FMV salary by up to 50% by paying as a signing bonus -or- if you pay more than FMV salary, you can pad your offer by adding up to 50% more in signing bonus and essentially pay the same in bonus as in salary.

It's definitely not the easiest thing to explain and I've tried improving the language in the CBA about it quite a few times.