Originally posted by WRATHman44:
No one is taking a pay cut. Brooks had $4 Million of this years salary converted to a signing bonus, which he collects now, rather than week-to-week. He gets the exact same amount of money, but the cap hit pushes back to the remaining years of his contract (roughly $9M per year). We get cap room now, he gets added security going forward (we'd have a bigger dead money hit if we cut him).
Truth.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/49ers-nearly-10-million-under-cap-after-brooks-restructure
SANTA CLARA – Linebacker Ahmad Brooks restructured his contract on the day the 49ers reported to training camp to save the team nearly $2 million in salary cap space.
Brooks' will still receive his scheduled $5.1 million pay for this season, but $3.395 million will be delivered in the form of a signing bonus, according to a league source. That money can be spread out over the life of the contract to save immediate cap space.
The 49ers are currently $9.999 million under the salary cap due to Brooks' new deal, which he officially signed on July 23, and guard Alex Boone being placed on the reserve/did not report list. On Sept. 4, all players under contract count against the salary cap, including those on injured reserve and the practice squad. Currently, only the top-51 are factored.
Brooks' salary cap figure drops from $6.6 million to $4.5 million this season. But the restructured deal means his cap figures rise every season for the remainder of his contract.
Brooks is scheduled to count $9.64 million against the 49ers' 2015 cap, $9.698 million in 2016, and $8.648 million in 2017.