This past week the Pittsburgh Steelers signed linebacker Sean Spence to a one-year contract and as expected, the team’s former third-round draft pick received a minimum salary based on his accrued years in the league.
According to the NFLPA report, Spence signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Steelers. Additionally, it’s worth noting that Spence’s deal doesn’t qualify for the minimum salary benefit in the CBA being as he received a $750,000 signing bonus from the Indianapolis Colts this past offseason when he signed a one-year contract with them. In short, no reduced salary cap charge for Spence.
Section 2. Qualifying Contracts:
(a) For purposes of this section, a “Qualifying Contract” shall be defined as a Player Contract signed by a Qualifying Player that (i) covers only a single League Year and (ii) contains no terms that affect compensation in any way other than (1) the applicable minimum Paragraph 5 Salary, (2) up to $50,000 in “Additional Compensation” (e.g., signing bonus allocation, roster bonus, reporting bonus, or any incentive (“likely to be earned” or not)), and/or (3) a guarantee for Salary and/or Salary advance of up to the Minimum Salary for a player with two Credited Seasons. A Qualifying Contract may not be extended or renegotiated in any manner. Split contracts, if they otherwise qualify, may be Qualifying Contracts. Thus, for example, a contract that includes an option year is not a Qualifying Contract.
(b) The maximum amount of Additional Compensation in (2) above shall be increased to $65,000 for the 2012–14 League Years, to $80,000 for the 2015–17 League Years, and $90,000 for the 2018–20 League Years.
(c) If the player’s prior contract was terminated, he is eligible to sign a Qualifying Contract if he does not earn more than maximum amount of Additional Compensation less the amount of any Additional Compensation and/or guaranteed Salary earned during that League Year under the terminated years of his prior contract(s), but his combined compensation from the terminated contract(s) earned for that League Year and the Qualifying Contract cannot exceed the applicable minimum for that League Year plus the maximum amount of Additional Compensation.
In summation, Spence will count $182,353 against the Steelers 2017 salary cap over the last four games as that’s the prorated amount of his $775,000 salary. Spence will also be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2017 season.
Below is a layout of Spence’s contract:
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $775,000 | $0 | $0 | $182,353 |
