Money Still Owed to Eric Berry
by Dean Dahlquist | March 7, 2019
I received this email from Dean Dahlquist requesting that I publish this as an article. So, here’s the email on Eric Berry and the money he’s owed. I have created an addendum to the end of his piece which should help give some clarity on what Berry is owed. Dean’s piece is meant to work as an addition to Paul Pulley’s Piece which came out earlier today called, “Chiefs: The Franchise Tag, Trading Players and Cap Implications“: Please welcome Dean Dahlquist. ~Laddie Morse, ArrowheadOne Editor-in-Chiefs
The way I read his contract, the Kansas City Chiefs have paid out $29.8M or $30M of $40M guaranteed. Thus, Clark Hunt still owes Eric Berry $10M. That is cash money, operational cash, and this cash amount has nothing to do with cap space. [Following are the options on Eric Berry]:
- Option 1: Cut Eric- pay him $10M to walk away with cap savings of $1.5
- Option 2: Keep Eric Berry, pay 2019 contract of $12.5M and hope he is great sideline player or field player. Cap hit already figured in of $16.5M
- Option 3: Eric Berry retires and negotiates settlement. Big if.
Option 2 is what will likely happen. Why pay someone $10M to walk away.
Allow me to tweet out or do a “@Matt Verderame”- Eric Berry will be on Chiefs roster from a source. The money source.
Per spotrac.com: Eric Berry signed a 6 year, $78,000,000 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including a $20,000,000 signing bonus, $40,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $13,000,000. In 2019, Berry will earn a base salary of $12,400,000 and a workout bonus of $100,000, while carrying a cap hit of $16,500,000 and a dead cap value of $14,950,000.
An Addendum to Dean Dahlquist’s Piece
The $1.5M that Dean is talking about above is actually $9.55M because… as I see it… $8M still owed to him and must be added in for a Guaranteed signing bonus that would have otherwise been stretched out over the next two years following the 2019 season. CBS Sports Joel Corry says,
“The Chiefs could potentially pick up $9.55 million of cap space by releasing Berry with a post-June 1 designation before the March 15 guarantee date for the $7.25 million.”
Apparently, a team can designate two players each year to receive a Post June 1st release date. Also from Corry:
“NFL teams can release two players each league year prior to June 1 that will be treated under the cap as if they were released after June 1. With a post-June 1 designation, a team is required to carry the player’s full cap number until June 2 even though he is no longer a part of the roster. The player’s salary comes off the books at that time unless it is guaranteed.”
In any event, what Chiefs fans need to know is, that if Eric Berry is cut, it would have to happen before March 15th and it would most certainly have a Post Junt 1st designation if that were to happen. Because Berry has opted to not have surgery, he should be given a clean bill of health prior to the new league year in which case he can’t claim he’s not healthy and thereby get a Guaranteed amount of money in return. That most likely means that Berry has been planning on returning… and not going for the Gold… the mulah… the cash. Now, that’s related to Eric Berry’s intent… but the team’s plan for Berry are a different matter altogether and when oyu consider that a new DC Sheriff is in town. Watch this space.
Dean Dahlquist — ArrowheadOne
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