The National Football League has given notice to its teams’ organizations. It wasn’t necessarily a fine or any form of disciplinary measure. Still, it was akin to a balance notice that credit card companies deliver to customers—though this reminder was not good. In fact, for some clubs, it might have been downright embarrassing. These figures aren’t included in the salary cap since team organizations aren’t required to make coaching salaries public. Still, for some hires, like former Carolina Panthers Head Coach Matt Ruhle, you know the figure when they ink the contract.
In his case, it was also an important NFL news story when Panthers owner David Tepper announced that Ruhle had agreed to a six-year, $62 million contract to be the team’s head coach in 2020, only to be fired in-season this year after compiling an 11-27 record.
Over the past five years, numerous coaches and general managers have been fired, costing teams $800 million. Again, these expenditures don’t impact the hard cap figures, but the message from league officials’ memo to clubs is clear: you’ve all blown boatloads of cash on losers. Reportedly, each team was given a line-by-line breakdown, which I’m sure was like pouring salt in the wound for some organizations like the New York Giants, who are still paying three former coaches (via ESPN):
NFL officials have informed the owners of the league's 32 franchises that teams have spent $800 million on fired coaches and front-office executives over the past five years, league sources told ESPN.
The message, delivered this past week at the owners meetings in Dallas, was sent by the league as a reminder that as some franchises mull significant changes at the end of the season, hundreds of millions of dollars have been squandered recently by teams that may need to act less hastily.
NFL officials went so far as to compose spreadsheets specific to each team about the employees they fired and the costs incurred by the team, according to sources. The league wanted each team to see the exact cost for instability and the employees they paid for services no longer rendered.
Costs this year already have begun piling up in ways the league is cautioning teams to guard against in the future.
Don’t feel too bad for these coaches. After the New York Giants fired Pat Shurmur, he was later hired as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, another good-paying job, with the money owed to him from New York on top of that—two paychecks. As for Ruhle, he’s returning to college football, becoming Nebraska’s next coach with an eight-year, $74 million contract, 90 percent of which is guaranteed.