Insider notes: Take Harrington or regret it

Say you are the decision maker of a team with a pick in the top 10 of this year's NFL Draft. You should be excited since this is a chance to get an impact player that should help your team improve -- and quite possibly keep your checks coming and the kids staying in that private school.

Joey Harrington might be among the players whose bonus might not be worth taking on in the top 10.(AP)

So how come you're not excited?

Two words: signing bonus.

As the NFL readies for April 20, much of the focus, as it normally is, is on the top 10 picks. Where will Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington go? How many defensive tackles will go in the first 10 picks? What will Dallas do if Quentin Jammer is not available? (He won't be).

The real issue won't be any of that. The hot topic is which teams are going to try like heck to move out of the top 10 for monetary reasons.

Word is several of the teams in the top 10 are looking to get out, although no one is saying for sure. That's to be expected during this period of big-time poker faces.

Those looking to get out of the top 10 might find trouble finding a dance partner. And remember, it's impossible to tango without one.

"It seems like all the talk is about going down and not up," one AFC personnel director said. "The problem is that those teams wanting to move down are going to have a tough time unless somebody falls in love with a player and has to move up to get him."

That love will have to be strong.

Unlike last year -- when split signing bonuses (paid out to the player over a number of years) were the way because signing bonuses could be amortized (prorated against the team's salary cap figure) for only six years -- the agent community is readying for larger up-front signing bonuses that shouldn't have to be split; now the signing bonuses can be amortized over seven years.

"That's going to make for some big bonuses," one agent said. "It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out."

A year ago, teams could only amortize signing bonus money over six years because the league's three-year extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement had yet to be signed. With the Deion Sanders rule also coming into play, that meant agents were almost forced to take split bonus money; the Sanders rule limits the amount of signing bonus related to salary.

Those two things together combined to force agents and teams into creative ways to get players signed.

For example, Michael Vick, the top choice by Atlanta last year, signed a six-year, $22-million deal with a $3 million signing bonus. That was a paltry bonus on paper.

But the Falcons and agent Mike Sullivan also negotiated a team buyback on the final three years of the contract -- that included guaranteed money -- in exchange for two voidable years and an additional $8 million bonus. Vick got $5 million of that this year and will get another $3 million next February.

Since the team thought enough of Vick to draft him with the first pick, it was obvious he would be with the team after the 2001 season. The Falcons exercised the buyback option and Vick got the $8 million in March. That means his $11 million signing bonus essentially came in three sums: $3 million last year, $5 million this year and $3 million next year, thus the term 'split bonus.'

But in discussions with a handful of agents, they all expect the split bonus to be a thing of the past. This year's buzz phrase will be this: Get all of it up front.

"The first round is going to be a nightmare," one team's cap specialist said. "And the first 10 picks are really going to be tough to get done."

Assuming a 10-percent increase (agents normally do from year to year) on Vick's $11 million signing bonus -- assuming it wasn't split -- David Carr should expect at least $12.2 million in bonus money when he signs with the Texans. But factoring in the seven-year amortization, the number could be even higher.

It is an advantage for the team to spread out the bonus over one more year -- lessoning the cap hit -- but the agents are expected to try to make teams pay for that luxury with bigger up-front checks.

That translates to cash flow, which is where commitment to a pick has to come into play. If a team is handing a player a check for $12 million -- minus taxes of course -- they had better be darn sure about that player's ability.

Carrying dead money on the books from players gone bad is the quickest way into cap hell.

"A lot of teams at the top of the first round are already looking to get out," the personnel director said. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of players worth giving that type of up-front bonus money."

Another thing that will impact contracts is that the rookie pool for each team has not increased. The pool, which normally increases each year by 10 percent, will stay flat in 2002 and 2003. It will increase in 2004-07 by no more than 5 percent.

The reason is the saved money will be put in the player-incentive pool that the league and NFLPA have instituted for the 2002 season.

It might make some low-paid starter happy in January when he receives his performance bonus, but it's going to make for an interesting summer of negotiations, especially those at the top of the first round.

"The question about this draft is whether there are enough players at the top of the first round who deserve to get that big bonus check," one coach said. "That's what teams are going to have to decide. Are they worth it? Judging by the pre-draft talk, some teams probably don't think so."

That could lead to a lot of movement before the draft and come draft day ... if some team can be induced to move up. That, of course, comes with an asterisk. Not only will a team have to give up something to move up, but it will be a move that will cost in terms of a cash outlay.

How many teams will be willing to do that?