Steelers salary cap space looks very good.....

The contract I don't know when it became an option is something like Ben's 5 year contract.

There is not even a salary for year 2, 3, 4, or 5; it was just a "5" year contract to spread the bonus money into next year.

What happens in year 2 of the contract? If he plays in 2022 then they don't lose the dead money for his bonus, but what is his salary?

When did these type of contracts with voidable years and no salary for those years start?


Ben Roethlisberger Contract Details, Salary Cap Charges, Bonus Money, and Contract History | Over The Cap

 

The void year deals were always an option, it’s just nobody used them in my recollection until the Saints structured Brees last deal that way trying to make one last run with him.

If Ben plays next year it’ll very likely be on a one year deal so they will just alter the deal again and that will add whatever his agreed salary for 2022 is to the cap sheet.

They can leave the bonus money as it is, spread out over the remaining years, or void his existing deal like they planned and get the bonus to fully best in 2022. It will depend on how they structure any new deal. Given that they have plenty of cap space going forward I don’t necessarily think it matters that much how they do it.

 

I'm thinking that the NFL will see these voidable contracts become more prevalent & innovative in the next decade.