You guys know how when Calvin Johnson retired, the Lions demanded he pay back part of his signing bonus?
What happens if…. a player signs a 5 year mega contract with a massive signing bonus and huge fully guaranteed money through the first 4 seasons. The team goes through a major regime change after 2 seasons and decides they’re okay taking the cap hit but don’t want to be on the hook for the fully guaranteed he still has left, so they trade him to another team. Then after 1 year on the new team, the player retires.
He still has 2 years left on his deal, so one of the teams comes hunting for part of his signing bonus. Would it be the team he got traded to that have the right to demand the money back? But they never paid him that money in the first place, so it would be like a cap reimbursement from nothing. Or would the original paying team come after that money? But he wasn’t even on their roster anymore, how would they have the authority to do that?