Signing Bonuses & The Salary Cap

[Ciao]

Not a lot of teams can afford to pay out 10s of million of dollars in one go.

Signing bonuses are essentially completely unregulated and it seems to be getting to the point where teams that can afford to pay someone 15 million dollars in one day may have an advantage that the league might find troublesome.

Very few teams can compete with that and the whole point of the cap is to level the playing field so is this an issue? I am not saying it is, I am wondering how people view this trend because it's increasing in intensity. This also means very rich teams get a big advantage as we get closer to the end of a CBA (since signing bonuses are paid even in a lockout I believe), is that something that could be a concern?

Just looking to discuss really.

No it's not an issue. The purpose of the cap is cost certainty, not competitive balance. Signing bonuses do not in any way undermine the purpose of the salary cap.

 

[Ciao]

Is there any difference in taxation / social security charges (do the teams pay something like that on players salaries?) between salary and bonuses?

No.