Andrew Wylie’s re-negotiated contract

Wylie agreed to a $3.75 million pay cut in 2025. In return the Commanders guaranteed $3.5 million of salary for the year

It was reported a week ago that Commanders OT Andrew Wylie had agreed to a contract restructure.

Restructuring vs Renegotiation

Restructuring

While there’s no convention among NFL observers about the language to be used, I generally use the term “restructure” to mean a ‘push button’ adjustment to a player’s contract in which some portion of his base salary is converted to signing bonus. In these instances, the player’s agreement is not required since, from the player’s standpoint, it simply converts game checks into a more immediate ‘up front’ cash payment that is, in effect, fully guaranteed.

The advantage for the team is that cap dollars — up to 80% of the amount of salary converted to bonus — can be deferred to later years. While to some fans this sounds like some form of salary cap cheating or gaming of the system, it is actually part of the NFL salary cap system that is codified in NFL contracts and/or the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Literally every NFL team uses this type of restructuring from time to time as a cap management tool.

Renegotiation

I will stress again that there is no convention about the use of these two terms, but it has always been my habit to use the word “renegotiate” to describe a situation where a player agrees to a pay cut.

This is far different from the “restructure” I described above. In the push-button restructure, the player is in no way disadvantaged, and, in fact, gets his money sooner and usually with greater certainty than he would without the restructure. It is normally seen to actually be a benefit to the player involved.

A renegotiation is quite different. Here, the player agrees to actually be paid less money (and it can’t happen without his agreement). Without looking it up, the last Washington player that I remember taking a pay cut via a renegotiated contract was DeAngelo Hall in 2017, though it may have happened since then and slipped my mind.

The motivation for a player to take a pay cut could be subtle or complex I guess, but generally speaking, it simply results from the team offering him a choice: take a pay cut or be cut from the roster outright. Typically, the player has little or no guaranteed money remaining and limited prospects for signing a better contract with a different team.

Depending on the situation, the player may get some offsetting concessions such as new incentives, production-based bonuses, guarantees, signing bonus or contract years added to or removed from the contract. Where the player has little leverage, he may receive no consideration at all.

Andrew Wylie has indeed renegotiated his contract

The details of Andrew Wylie’s revised contract have now been made public, and it’s clear that he has taken a pay cut. Over the Cap states it plainly:

Wylie agreed to a $3.75 million pay cut in 2025. In return the Commanders guaranteed $3.5 million of salary for the year.

Let’s look at his new contract, and then compare it to the final year of his contract prior to renegotiation. Details come from Over the Cap and John Keim.

Wylie’s renegotiated contract terms

Wylie’s original contract terms with Washington

Comparison of renegotiated contract and original contract terms

In the end, Wylie gave up roughly $3.7m in cash for the 2025 season:

• His base salary is $4m lower
• He can earn $15k roster bonus per game to a maximum of $255,000

Wylie got very little in the way of concessions in return:

• His $1m roster bonus was converted to a signing bonus (no net gain/loss)
• His workout bonus remained the same
• His base salary is now fully guaranteed. This is a minor benefit, since as a vested veteran, his base salary would have become fully guaranteed if he had been on the Week 1 roster. Still, it does give him income security and make it a near certainty that he will make the 53-man roster.

The Commanders gained roughly $3.7m in cap space:

Assuming that Wylie earns his active roster bonuses for all 17 games, he will earn about $6.64m in 2025, or about $3.7m less than he would have under the terms of his original contract.

What can we infer from this renegotiated contract?

While inferences are not certainties, I think that a reasonable person can draw some reasonable conclusions from Wylie’s renegotiated deal. These are my generalized inferences:

1. Wylie was dealing from a position of weakness. The team likely told him that if he did not agree to reduced compensation, he would be released. With no guaranteed money left, Wylie preferred to take the team’s offer.
2. The team preferred the option of keeping Wylie on the roster at a reduced cap hit to the option of cutting him loose.
3. Wylie is likely seen as filling more of a backup or fill-in option in 2025 rather than the starting right tackle role he has filled for the past two seasons.
4. Wylie is less likely to return to the team in 2026; he is now being treated like other older veterans — a one-year solution to a roster need.