Official 2015 Free Agency/Contract Extension Thread

[denverYooper]

Randy Starks was cut by the Dolphins. Sounds like he's got a lot left in the tank, they just replaced him with Suh.

Bobble really wanted the Pack to bring him in a year or 2 ago.

[pbmax]

But state taxes are deductible on your federal return so reduce those actual rates by 33-40% to find the real income tax affect.

But you also need to add in sales taxes and other local taxes. FL has a high sales tax rates at around 6.6%.

Knew a guy who lived in SC a long time ago. When he bought a car, he couldn't just pay the taxes on the sales amount plus $40 (WI charge at the time) to register it. It was sales tax plus $800 dollars to register it for a new car. No idea how it worked or used cars.

[MadScientist]

The other thing is that many states have gone to taxing visiting players, so the difference in tax is only about half the actual state difference.

[Fosco33]

But state taxes are deductible on your federal return so reduce those actual rates by 33-40% to find the real income tax affect.

But you also need to add in sales taxes and other local taxes. FL has a high sales tax rates at around 6.6%.

True and false. Yes for people making "normal" money. But when you hit AMT level (as all pro athletes likely do) - those deductions often don't exist.

Sales/Property taxes are much higher in states without income tax - but these guys aren't buying 10M homes (yearly) to account for the difference.

[Fosco33]

The other thing is that many states have gone to taxing visiting players, so the difference in tax is only about half the actual state difference.

As someone who works in many, many states per year - the home state do credit back taxes to other states. And most companies will gross you up to pay the difference in states without income tax (possibly doubtful for NFL contracts).

[ThunderDan]

True and false. Yes for people making "normal" money. But when you hit AMT level (as all pro athletes likely do) - those deductions often don't exist.

Sales/Property taxes are much higher in states without income tax - but these guys aren't buying 10M homes (yearly) to account for the difference.

Sorry, but you are mistaken on the AMT. The majority of athletes earning W-2 wages would not be in the AMT unless they have other sources of income from very specific sources. The AMT top tax rate is 28% and the top athlete's are paying 39.6%. The regular tax is much higher than the AMT amount.

The sad part of the AMT is it hits the people making 200K-500k which is not the original intent of the law.

[Fosco33]

Sorry, but you are mistaken on the AMT. The majority of athletes earning W-2 wages would not be in the AMT unless they have other sources of income from very specific sources. The AMT top tax rate is 28% and the top athlete's are paying 39.6%. The regular tax is much higher than the AMT amount.

The sad part of the AMT is it hits the people making 200K-500k which is not the original intent of the law.

Fair point. Lets just agree the IRS sucks. For the highest paid NFL athletes looking to sign on day one of FA, I'd guess state income tax is a question.

[Fritz]

There's been a flurry of activity out there. But I haven't heard anything about Raji. I'm hoping the Packers will re-sign him; I think he'll play well this year. Maybe not 2010 well, but if you could put Guion and Raji in a role of alternating at the nose and continue to develop Pennel, you might have something.

[Patler]

Sorry, but you are mistaken on the AMT. The majority of athletes earning W-2 wages would not be in the AMT unless they have other sources of income from very specific sources. The AMT top tax rate is 28% and the top athlete's are paying 39.6%. The regular tax is much higher than the AMT amount.

Aren't professional athletes considered independent contractors with 1099 income as opposed to W-2 wages? Does AMT apply to 1099 income? Probably doesn't matter anyway, because after going through the test they likely will have paid enough anyway. As you said, those who fail the AMT test and have to pay extra are usually the moderately well paid more than the highly paid.

[MadScientist]

As someone who works in many, many states per year - the home state do credit back taxes to other states. And most companies will gross you up to pay the difference in states without income tax (possibly doubtful for NFL contracts).

Right, that's why I said the difference would be about half the state to state difference. Half the games are at home, so they pay that state's tax, half are on the road, so they pay that state's tax. Road games in states with no tax would presumably default to the home state's tax. No way does the NFL adjust contracts to account for this.

[hoosier]

Why is NO interested in Tramon Williams if they are now in the throes of an NBA-style fire sale? Doesn't make much sense.

[Fosco33]

Just saw that Bears are moving ahead with Jay Cutler as the starting QB... ha

[ThunderDan]

Fair point. Lets just agree the IRS sucks. For the highest paid NFL athletes looking to sign on day one of FA, I'd guess state income tax is a question.

Let's just say that the IRS allows us to have an army and roads and a whole host of other necessary and unnecessary services.

[Patler]

Why is NO interested in Tramon Williams if they are now in the throes of an NBA-style fire sale? Doesn't make much sense.

Moderately priced, decent skills, easy to get rid of in 2 or 3 years good locker room presence as an example of hard work paying off in a long career. Fits in nicely for a roster makeover.

[pbmax]

NO is also signing another big batch of FAs. They are hosting Browner after Tramon.