Do one year no guarantee contracts even matter against the cap at this point?

[SantaClaraHawk]

It seems to me that lots of these one year no guarantee contracts are just like reserve future ones. You get the player in camp, but like most reserve future signings, the guarantee to them is merely paying and housing them through camp unless you want to cut them.

 

[49fansinceBrodie]

And only the top 51 contacts count against the cap.

 

[flv2]

It seems to me that lots of these one year no guarantee contracts are just like reserve future ones. You get the player in camp, but like most reserve future signings, the guarantee to them is merely paying and housing them through camp unless you want to cut them.

Players signing 1-year, zero guarantee deals are in the same boat as players on the final year of their contract with zero guarantees. Teams can keep them until Week 1 of the season just to prevent them from negotiating a FA contract with someone else. This also applies to players with RFA tags. Teams sometimes keep players with the intention to offer them a significant pay cut days before the season starts or release them when it's too late for them to be of high value elsewhere. I feel sorry for players on rookie deals but everyone else had the opportunity to negotiate better terms. If they put themselves in a bad situation it's down to them.