Q. What is the “Final Eight Plan”?
In an effort to ensure that the best teams from the last capped year won’t be able to corner the market on unrestricted free agents, the CBA places specific restrictions on the ability of the final eight teams - the Ravens, Colts, Jets, Chargers, Cardinals, Cowboys, Vikings and Saints - to sign players.
There are two distinct levels. For the final four teams (Colts, Jets, Vikings, Saints), a UFA from another team can’t be signed until a UFA is lost to a new team, and so on. Even then, the contract given to the new player must be comparable to the contract received by the player who left.
For the next four teams (Ravens, Chargers, Cardinals, Cowboys), the same rule applies, but each team may sign one UFA for a contract with a first-year value of $5.8 million or more and no restriction on future growth, along with an unlimited number of unrestricted free agents to contracts with a first-year value of $3.8 million or less, with specific limits on future growth.
