Matt Schaub restructures his contract with Raiders

The trade for Matt Schaub didn't just leave the Raiders acquiring a new quarterback, it left them also inheriting a rather large salary cap number with it. Though Oakland had plenty of space to pay the amount owed, they figured they would work it out better anyway. According to Adam Schefter, Schaub has agreed to restructure his cap number.

Raiders QB Matt Schaub restructured deal with OAK, lowering base salary and cap # this year; still can earn $15-$20M the next two seasons.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 24, 2014

One of the major reasons for questioning the trade was Schaub's salary was so large ($11 million), but now that is no longer an issue. It is an interesting restructuring because the Raiders are required to still spend a lot of money to meet the salary cap floor to be in compliance with the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. The excess being paid to Matt was helping them meet that floor, but now they have lowered that cap number anyway.

It sounds as though the new restructured contract will be incentive based. Of course it does help him too as it shows the Raiders have faith in him that he will be here for more than just a season. That also backs up what Dennis Allen said recently in a conference call interview.

"I think as you look around the league, you’re seeing these quarterbacks play for a long time. With the way the rules have been set up to try to protect the quarterback and the different ways – you can’t hit them too low, you can’t hit them too high. There are a lot of rules that are to the benefit to try to keep these quarterbacks healthy. I definitely can see Matt Schaub being the quarterback of the Oakland Raiders for more than just a year or two."

The numbers being reported originally from Adam Schefter were that he could make between $15M-$20M over the next two years, though NFL Around the League is now reporting numbers between $13M and $21M.

Matt Schaub re-did his deal with Raiders, per @RapSheet. Lowers base salary, but can earn between $13M and $21M over the next two years.

— NFL: AroundTheLeague (@NFL_ATL) March 24, 2014

No matter which numbers are accurate it does mean that the base salary has been lowered for Schaub which could give them even more salary cap to play with. One naturally wonders what their plans are with that extra money. We'll all just have to wait and see what happens next.