A contract modification where a portion of a player's base salary is converted into a signing bonus, which is then prorated over the remaining contract years to create immediate cap savings.
A restructure is one of the most common cap management tools in the NFL. The mechanics are straightforward: a team converts some or all of a player's base salary for the current year into a signing bonus. Since signing bonuses are prorated evenly over the life of the contract (up to five years), this shifts cap charges from the current year into future years, creating immediate cap space. For example, if a player has a $20 million base salary with three years remaining on their deal, a team could convert $15 million of that base salary into a signing bonus. The $15 million would then be prorated at $5 million per year over the three remaining years. Instead of a $20 million cap hit in the current year, the player would have a $5 million base salary plus a $5 million prorated bonus, totaling $10 million -- saving $10 million in cap space immediately. The catch is that restructures do not reduce the total money owed. They merely shift cap charges into future years, creating what is sometimes called "cap debt." Frequent restructures can lead to bloated future cap numbers and make it harder to move on from players, since the accumulated prorated bonus money accelerates as dead money if the player is cut or traded. Teams must balance short-term cap relief against long-term financial flexibility.
The Saints under Mickey Loomis became famous for aggressive restructuring. In 2023, New Orleans restructured contracts for players like Demario Davis, Cameron Jordan, and Tyrann Mathieu to create over $40 million in cap space, but pushed significant dead money into future years.
Cap savings = Converted amount - (Converted amount / remaining contract years) New cap hit = Original cap hit - Cap savings
Category: Cap Strategies. Part of the StickToTheModel NFL Encyclopedia.