How do voided years work when amortizing signing bonuses?
Many contracts in the NFL these days included clauses for “voided years”. These are typically incentive-laden additions to contracts that will allow the player to file for Free Agency sooner if certain goals are obtained. The likelihood of voiding years can be included when determining the term of years for the prorated signing bonus. However, if the player meets the goal that voids the year (or years) of the contract, any amount of the signing bonus that was allocated to the voided year (or years) will be accelerated and added immediately to team salary. If the accelerated signing bonus puts the team over the Salary Cap, the amount that the team is over the cap will be deducted from the teams Salary Cap for the next year. If a player can void a contract based on a Likely To Be Earned” incentive, and the player is on the roster at a later time, there will be no acceleration. If a contract is renegotiated to reduce the number of years of the contract, the portion of the signing bonus th
