The Arizona Cardinals made a move that did not change the roster and did not change the compensation for a player but did clear some money off this year’s salary cap.
According to both ESPN’s Field Yates and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, left tackle D.J. Humphries and the Cardinals tweaked his contract to save more than $5 million against the salary cap this season.
Pelissero called it a salary conversion but it wasn’t exactly that.
Humphries was due an $8 million roster bonus this month, all of which would count toward this year’s salary cap. He was paid that bonus, but it was converted into an option or restructure bonus, which prorates over the life of the contract.
As a result, instead of all $8 million counting against this year’s camp, only $2.67 million will, saving the Cardinals $5.33 million in cap space this year.
It will add $2.67 million in cap space in 2024 and 2025, the final two years of his contract.
Humphries is due $5.5 million in salary in 2023. He can earn up to $255,000 in per-game roster bonuses. His cap hit would have been as much as a little more than $19 million. Based on last year’s games played, his cap hit would have been almost $17.9 million.
Instead, his contract will count $12.54 million (based on last year’s games played) and as much as $13.67 million.
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