Mark Dominik is front-loading contracts.

After the initial splash of a player signing and the years and total money come out, most people lose interest in NFL contracts. But you can learn an awful lot about the foresight and general direction of an organization by looking at some of the details of the deals that they’re inking. The Bucs and Panthers both opened the 2011 offseason with considerable cap-space, but have elected to utilize it much differently. As Pat Yasinkas writes, the Bucs have opted front load their contracts, while the Panthers have not.

What that means is that while both teams have spent considerable money re-signing their own players (and some others in the Panthers case), the Bucs are opting to put the brunt of the guaranteed money, bonuses and big-salary years on the front side of the contract.  That means most players’ cap hits will be higher this year and next when the Bucs have plenty of cap space, but then down the road when the Bucs need to re-sign guys like Josh Freeman, Mike Williams, LeGarrette Blount and the rest of the their talented young core, they will have more flexibility and won’t be bound to anyone who didn’t work out.

It all ties into what Mark Dominik said last week when he mentioned, ‘it’s not about what we can get now it’s about who we can keep later.’ Right now the Bucs are setting themselves up to be in a cap-friendly situation, long-term. More impressive considering they’ve done all this just days after the new CBA was completed and they actually had to learn parts of it on the fly. You never see the great teams having to gut their rosters to free up a ton of cap space. A player or two may get cut to make a move, yes, but you don’t see a purge or a bad trade just to clear space all that often. When was the last time the Patriots or Steelers were in cap peril? It doesn’t happen, and the Bucs are smart to build around that ideal.

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Fortunately Mark Dominik is a lot better at scouting players than he is at looking tough.

Earlier today it was widely reported that Davin Joseph was still waiting on the Bucs to even make an initial offer on a contract. The Buccaneers’ right guard took to Twitter to mention the fact his agent had been on the phone with other teams, but was yet to hear from the Buccaneer team that drafted Joseph in 2006. This was more than a little alarming considering the Bucs have been pretty open about their desire to extend Joseph.

Well, it appears based on the framework currently being abided by for this NFL off-season, that NFL teams can only meet in person with their own free agents at this point in time. So while Davin Joseph may feel slighted, it’s not as vital Mark Dominik spend his precious time negotiating a new contract with Joseph, because he can’t even meet with other teams yet.

Right now Mark Dominik needs to focus on signing rookies, both the ones Tampa drafted and any last UDFA’s that may still be on the street. After that is handled, I’m sure Davin Joseph becomes priority number one, but right now without the ability to even sit down and a have a face-to-face with other squads, Dominik can afford to stick to his own timetable. The one thing you do hope is that this tact doesn’t drive up the price in negotiations, but all things considered that’s literally a risk the Bucs can afford to take.

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Football is back, finally.

When it comes to breaking down the specifics of the CBA there are sources that are repeating what they hear and good legal minds like Andrew Brandt and Mike Florio that actually know how to parse something as nuanced and complicated as this. Though it pains me to give him any praise, I’ve got to defer to Mike Florio on this, who did a good job of breaking down the new CBA in a post on PFT earlier today.

Here are the major points:

-There is a cap floor in place, it will 89 percent of the cap maximum with the league pledging to spend 99% of the possible cap in 2011 and ’12, before dropping to 95% in 2013 and down to the agreed upon minimums after that.

-There is no opt-out, it’s a ten-year deal with no clauses to let either side walk away early.

-Teams may carry 90 players on their rosters through training camp.

-All bonuses, including workout, roster and option bonuses will be paid out as long as said player is still on his NFL roster on 7-29 at 4:01 PM. Players that are cut will get a portion of their bonus.

-Injury protection will allow players to receive half of their salary, up to a million dollars, after a major injury and up to 500,000 the second year.

There are also still a number of issues to be resolved through litigation, but that won’t prevent the NFL from returning to business on time and getting things rolling. Football is back. Finally.