Cap lets Keyshawn remain on payroll

Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 10:14 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

Keyshawn Johnson will be home waiting for his $170,000 weekly paycheck during the final six weeks of the National Football League season while his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates nurse their bumps and bruises.

Johnson can thank the NFL's salary-cap rules for keeping him on the payroll even after the Buccaneers took him off the active roster Tuesday for feuding with coach Jon Gruden, missing team meetings and complaining about not getting enough passes.

To release the three-time Pro Bowl receiver, the Buccaneers would have to pay him $7.25 million in bonuses and deferred salary that he was scheduled to get through 2007. That would put the defending Super Bowl champions over the league's limit on player payrolls and in danger of having to release players they want to keep.

"You definitely do things differently now with the backdrop of the cap," said former New Orleans Saints General Manager Randy Mueller, who is now an NFL analyst for ESPN.com.

"You can't make a personnel decision now without consulting your salary cap expert."

The NFL's compensation system changed a decade ago, when players not under contract were allowed to sign with the highest bidders, beginning in 1993. The NFL imposed a limit on payrolls the following year.

The cap is based on league-wide revenue, and this year's limit is $75.8 million. While cutting Johnson would save the Buccaneers $1.02 million in salary, paying off the remainder of his contract would put the team about $6.22 million over the limit. The NFL then could step in and force the Buccaneers to immediately waive players to get back under the limit.

In a similar situation, the Cleveland Browns released their top receiver, Kevin Johnson, last week after he clashed with coach Butch Davis.

Unlike the Buccaneers, Cleveland had enough salary-cap room to absorb the $2.1 million in bonuses it owed Johnson.

"They had the cap space to let him go," said Pat Kirwan, a former NFL executive who negotiated Keyshawn Johnson's first contract with the New York Jets in 1996. "They erase him from their books for the future, which is good cap management if you can do it."

Vick sprained his right ankle in a morning walkthrough Wednesday, when guard Martin Bibla accidentally stepped on his foot. Vick hasn't played in a game since breaking his leg in the preseason.

Ward was released in the Patriots' final preseason cutdown. He rejoins the team two days after former San Francisco wide receiver J.J. Stokes.

"I'm getting back healthy and feeling pretty good about where I'm at," Smith said, "and I look forward to getting back on the football field."