The Darwin Walker Return

The possibility that Darwin Walker could revert back to the Eagles if he doesn’t report to the Buffalo Bills has me wondering about the salary cap implications. For instance, is Walker’s contract still counting against the Eagles’ cap since he hasn’t reported, or is it currently included in the Bills’ calculations since he was technically traded?

 

Walker’s pro-rated signing bonus hit shouldn’t have been too bad for the Eagles – a hit they would take anyway if he returned and then proceeded to cut him. Still, I am also wondering of timing issues. For instance, at some point early in the off-season “dead money” can be applied to the upcoming season’s salary cap. After a certain date – I think maybe July 15 – cap hits can be put off a year and taken in the following season. Walker was traded relatively early in the off-season. The Eagles presumably took their Walker salary cap hit for 2007. But if he comes back in August does that negate the earlier accounting and/or do they get to apply the hit to 2008? And does it matter if they cut him immediately upon his return or whether they put him on the roster and suit him up in training camp?

 

The Eagles are one of the best teams at managing their cap and I can’t believe that Walker’s base salary (or even base + bonus) might put them over should he return, but it would be interesting if this all were occurring with a team with extremely limited cap space. I suppose ultimately the trade/non-trade temporarily opened up some salary cap room that would be gone should he return. An intriguing strategy for a team that wanted to temporarily make some cap room to sign their draftees and FAs but still wanted to retain a player – and have a player that ultimately wanted to return to a team and understood the strategy. Collusion? Maybe, but to the benefit of everyone.