Late Saturday night star pass racer Jadevan Clooney made the final push, the Saints became creative, and tried to pull off what was supposed to be their first of its kind in NFL history – but could not get final approval from the league.
The Saints were working towards a unique sign-and-trade deal with another team that maneuvered around the caps of the pay cap to bring the free-agent Clooney to New Orleans. But negotiations on the NFL’s willingness to approve such a deal broke down and Clooney was injured late Saturday night in agreeing to terms with the Tennessee Titans on a one-year deal.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the Saints did not feel they could compete financially for budget reasons with the Titans’ offer of 12 12 million, plus બ 3 million incentives. So, they rushed to another team to find a task. (Sources did not confirm another team, later referred to as “Team X”, but is believed to be the Cleveland Browns, who have ample cap space and a front office, known for having a class for creativity. , Most notably at his 2016 trade show for quarterback Brock Osweiler.)
The two sides discussed the parameters of the deal in which Team X signed Clooney to a one-year, 15 15 million contract and paid him a બો 5 million signing bonus. After that, Team X would have immediately traded Clooney with the Saints, who would have sent Team X a second-round draft pick, as well as a player to take extra pay from New Orleans books. The Saints would have paid Clooney the remaining 10 million salary.
Only one problem: the teams received word late Saturday night that the NFL was unlikely to approve such a deal.
Other teams, in essence, paid cash for past elections, including the Browns, who agreed to a ઓ 16 million guaranteed wage in the deal, which led them to a second-round draft pick. Last year, the Dolphins paid Ryan Tenehill a 5 5 million signing bonus on a restructuring contract to send the Titans. Clooney received a 7 7 million signing bonus last August from Texans to help complete Seattle’s business.
But many executives from different NFL teams said they could not recall a deal that a deal-free agent literally signed just for his trade. An executor summed up the league’s bylaws interpretation: “Basically, you can’t trade cash.”
Saints are willing to add fixed years to the contract to convert long-term large base wages into sign-in bonuses or to vacate short-term cap space. But given the estimated multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall for Covid-19, there is great uncertainty about the 2021 pay cap, which could drop from 198.2 million per club to 17 175 million in 2020. Entering this weekend, the Saints had a cap cap of more than 260 million for 2021, according to NFL Players Association records.
The Saints continued to try their offer fur again until late Saturday night, but without help, they couldn’t match the Titans’ match fur. And after 58 months in the free-agent market, Cloveny decided to move to Tennessee instead.
