Recently contracts and salary have become a hot bed of discussion around the ASHL.  Team’s worry that they may not be getting the most out of their salary cap, and have sought outside sources.  One famous source being Contracts Are Us.

We sat down with CAU and asked if they could give us a few tips.

DS:  Where do you start when signing a player?

CAU:  Well you need to start by finding out the two most important factors.  What does the team want, and what does the player want.  The best scenarios are when they want the same thing.  Negotiations however are when they don’t.  The team must be looking at what works best for them, and usually that means signing the player.  A player is always worth more as an asset, rather then a loss as a free agent.

DS:  So what seems to be the trend for what players want?

CAU:  Players will sign easily, in most cases, when they are young.  They also will sign for less when they get past their prime, usually around 33.  All draft picks come up when they are 19, that is the moment of truth.  A greedy young guy may want an expensive deal, they may not even sign, but most will sign between less then 500k and 1 million, the less greedy ones for less then 750k.

DS:  And then it depends on when they resign again.

CAU:  That is the ONLY factor you can depend on.  We at Contracts Are Us stress that this is the best time for a team to push for what they want.  If a team signs a player to a 5-year deal, then he is up for free agency when he is 25.  But if he signs him to a 3-year deal, he is 23.  There is a significant difference.

DS:  Cheaper?

CAU:  It’s about the law of averages.  If, on average during his career, a player makes 500k less then other players, then the team on average will have more cap room.  If a 23 year old signs a 1 to 2 million dollar deal, and its more commonly less the 2 million, then his average salary while playing on the pro team will be less then if he makes 1 million till he’s 25 and 3-4 million or more when he resigns.  It only gets worse when the 25 year old comes up again, while the 23 year old may resign at say 27-28 and make a big salary for 4 years. 

DS:  Wow, that’s a lot to take in.  So your advice is to sign a player long team, when he’s cost effective?

CAU:  Exactly.  When you pay a player very little money, it should be when he’s contributing to your team.  If you sign the 19-year-old long term, usually at least 2 of those seasons will be spent in development in the minors.  But a short-term deal followed by a long-term contract will allow the team the benefit of less total team salary while older players use up the larger portion of the cap room.  It’s all a vicious cycle, but you can free up more cap room for extra talent when you keep some low salaries on your roster.

DS:  I think I could manage a team’s negotiation now.

CAU:  Ah, there is more to managing a team. It also involves getting something from your players, deciding when you want to spend a little more, and the back breaker is free agency.  You need to manage around that as well as you can, if you are to get the most from your team.