SALARY CAP ANALYSIS: What To Do With Domonique Foxworth?

Earlier this week, Ravens’ CB Domonique Foxworth expressed frustration with the pace of his recovery from last August’s knee surgery and indicated that he wasn’t where he wanted to be at this point.  While it can be expected that there will be an adjustment period for Foxworth – both mentally and physically – he is now over a year removed from his surgery and it appears that he should be further along than he is now. 

This situation has probably been made worse by the 5-month lockout, during which time, the team and their doctors were unable to keep in touch with Foxworth and monitor his rehabilitation.   

Complicating this situation further is the fact that Foxworth has a pretty high Salary Cap number of $7.4M (with a base salary of $4.4M).  This has left many to wonder what options the Ravens may have with regard to Foxworth as well as the consequences of those options.

1.  KEEP HIM:  They can keep him and pay him his $4.4M base salary.  They would then decide next year whether he is worth his 2012 base salary of $5.6M.  Since 2012 is the last year of Foxworth’s deal, the ramifications of releasing him then are less. 

2.  RESTRUCTURE HIS CONTRACT:  When it is reported that a player has restructured his contract in order to free up Salary Cap space that is most often making reference to a “simple restructure”.  With a simple restructure, the team reduces the player’s base salary down to the veteran minimum (for his time of service) and gives the player the difference in the form of a bonus that can be prorated over the remaining years of the player’s contract.  With a simple restructure, the player receives the same amount of money, just at different times. 

In Foxworth’s case, that would mean reducing his $4.4M salary down to the veteran minimum of $700K. By doing so, the team would be able to reduce Foxworth’s Cap number by $1.85M.

In the grand scheme of things, that’s not really a great amount of savings, especially when you consider that it would add (the other) $1.85M onto next year’s Cap. So, while they would be able to save Cap space this year, it would come at the expense of Cap space next year. 

Therefore, a simple restructure would not seem like a particularly desirable option for the team, especially when you consider that he’s not likely to be around next year based on his 2012 base salary of $5.6M.  Presently, if he’s released next year, they would have to carry $3M in “dead money” against the 2012 Cap.  So, if they do a simple restructure this year and released him next year, it would add $1.85M to that $3M in dead money that would already count against the 2012 Cap. 

Basically, either way – whether they keep him or cut him in 2012 – a simple restructure this year is going to add $1.85M unto next year’s Cap.  This is especially problematic when you consider that they will already be carrying close to $5M in dead money next year because of the releases of Willis McGahee and Kelly Gregg.

3.  RELEASE HIM:  This seems to be the preferred option of many Ravens fans, but would certainly have an impact on the team’s depth at CB. 

As mentioned in this column as far back as January, Foxworth’s high base salary and Cap number have made his roster spot vulnerable.  As we saw with Todd Heap and Derrick Mason, no one is safe.   

Releasing Foxworth would open up just over $4M in cap space ($4.4M in savings from his release less $375M for his replacement under the rule of 51). But, releasing him now would cause them to have to carry $3M in dead money against the 2012 Cap.  Then again, that $3M is going to count next year no matter what, so the decision to release him now is really a matter of how much they feel he can help the team this year versus having the $4.4M in Cap space to use elsewhere.

Also, since Foxworth has passed his pre-Training Camp physical, the team shouldn’t have any issues with releasing an injured player (which is prohibited).

4.  FOXWORTH AGREES TO A PAYCUT:  This is probably the team’s best option, but it takes both sides to agree to a fair number.  This is usually done by Foxworth agreeing to a true reduction in base salary, but in return, the team adds incentives to the contract that would allow him to make up the difference if he plays and plays well. 

Since Foxworth did not play last year, those incentives would be considered “Not Likely To Be Earned” and therefore would not count against the Cap this year. However, whatever incentives he reached would be paid to him this year and then count against the 2012 Cap.  While the team would likely prefer to avoid any additional Cap charges being carried into next year, this would probably be an agreeable solution because if earned, it would mean that he played well.

The big question then would be – can Foxworth and the team reach a number that is agreeable to both?  Working in the team’s favor would be that Foxworth, if released, may not be able to find a team willing to sign him, given the present concerns about his knee.  This may make Foxworth more interested in staying for less.