Talking Shop with an NFL Capologist Ahead of 2015 Free Agency

The Greek suffix "-logy" is typically used with an "o" to create "somethingology" in order to describe branches of science or knowledge, such as sociology, biology or geology. Those are age-old terms, but we continue to invent -ologies and -ologists as we see fit. 

The bar industry has mixologists practicing mixology, the study of human sexuality has sexologists practicing sexology and the realm of the salary cap in professional sports has capologists practicing capology.

It's not a formal term, but every NFL team has one—a guy or gal who is the ultimate source on team salary-cap matters. Most serve as the right hand for general managers, crunching numbers in the background to ensure that there's room under the league-imposed cap for the 53-man roster combination in the works. 

Only a few teams actually employ folks who have the term "salary cap" in their title. That way, we're at least less likely to imagine them staring through safety goggles at novelty-sized calculators. Instead, most of these anonymous grinders go by broader titles such as "director of football administration." 

That's what it says on Tim Walsh's business card, which also makes sense because the longtime member of the Jacksonville Jaguars front office has duties that expand beyond just managing the payroll. Still, at heart, he's one of the league's 32 active lead "capologists," and he took some time before free agency to speak with Bleacher Report about his unique gig. 

Bleacher Report: So, how did you get your start? I know that before joining the Jaguars you were a member of the NFL Management Council, which oversees the salary cap and contracts. 

Tim Walsh: I did that in 1996. Then I came down here as an intern in 1997 for Michael Huyghue, who had worked at the Management Council. Interned here for a year. Part of getting into this business is it takes a little bit of time and doing some internships, as well as having a little luck. 

B/R: It seems as though most capologists started out in the Management Council. 

TW: It seems maybe almost half have experience with the Management Council. I guess for me it was a great place to learn the rules and to see a lot of contracts and get that experience. Maybe that's why you see a lot of Management Council people around. It is a good place to learn a lot. 

B/R: So you're basically the money guy? If I had to sum up what you do in two words, would that be relatively fair? 

TW: In a couple words. I think most salary-cap people also do some other stuff that normal business people do. So I also do budgeting stuff and look at the cash flows and things like that. There's a business side of it too. Obviously you have the salary cap, it was $133 million last year, could be $10 million or so bigger this year, so you've gotta figure out how to divvy that up. 

B/R: Is an accounting background a must for a job like yours? In other words, is it about the numbers more so than the football?

TW: I don't know if any one thing is a must. You get people from different backgrounds. I do have an accounting degree from Notre Dame and I think I'm a natural number-cruncher type person. I think that's helped me. You get varying backgrounds, but I think that helps. Obviously you're dealing with numbers a lot, so being somewhat of a numbers person I think is crucial. 

B/R: Could you see this becoming a college course? 

TW: I think it could be. I know from my time in Florida, there's a couple of universities here—University of Jacksonville and University of North Florida—and there's times that I've gone to classes and done a one-day seminar, and I think the teacher will do a lesson about it. So I think there's probably enough for it to be an academic subject. 

B/R: Are you a fraternity of sorts? Do you keep in touch with other "capologists"?

TW: There's some people that I worked with when I was an intern at the Management Council that I keep up with just as friends. It's somewhat ironic to think Chris Olsen works in Houston and Vic Marino works in Tennessee, because they were working up there for the Management Council when I interned up there. So I'll keep up with them. 

B/R: Is dead money an indicator as to how well a "capologist" is doing his or her job?

Team	Dead money
1. Lions	$17.3M
2. Ravens	$13.2M
3. Cowboys	$12.9M
4. Steelers	$9.7M
5. Eagles	$9.2M

TW: Just going for no dead money may sound good, but realistically, over time, it's a percentage business, so not every contract you're gonna do is gonna work out. And sometimes if you don't have any contracts that don't work out, it might just mean you're not doing a lot of contracts. So while you don't want a huge (dead money) number, you also can't be afraid to have some. I think that's just the nature of the business. I don't think zero dead money is the goal, but you also don't want it to be eating up a big chunk of your cap. 

B/R: So you have, like, the ultimate spreadsheet, right? 

TW: One thing that I try to do is look out at the future. So I try to have a three-year model. It's hard, because there's so many changes and you never know how everything is going to go. So Year 3 probably is going to actually look a lot different when you get there than your projections, but it at least helps to try to foresee the potential issues in the future. And I think you're always looking at not only who are my free agents this year, but who are my free agents after that? That's something that I try to do is always look ahead. 

B/R: How much did your job change with the new collective bargaining agreement? I'm guessing you spend less time now on rookie contracts?

TW: The first-round rookie contract structure changed dramatically and they're just not as complex. I don't know if you've ever looked at any pre-CBA first-round contracts, but a lot of them could be pretty complex. That's definitely a change, but a lot of it is just adjusting to the new rules. Part of what I do too is go through with the coaches the rules in the offseason program, what they're allowed to do, when it can start and stuff like that. So there is sort of a compliance aspect to my job as well, maybe similar to like an NCAA compliance person.

B/R: What's your craziest time of the year? First few days of free agency or the post-draft signing spree with undrafted free agents? 

TW: Intensity-wise, the craziest time is often after the draft when you're trying to sign a bunch of free agents, because you're trying sometimes to sign 20 guys in 10 minutes. I think in our group here with [general manager] Dave Caldwell and myself, we try to organize it as much as possible. But there is some aspect of it that is sort of controlled chaos. There may be an element of what you see on Wall Street, where you're just trying to get all of these deals done in a very short amount of time and keep track of what you're spending. 

B/R: So it feels like you're on a trading floor?

TW: Yeah, maybe it can look a little bit like that. 

B/R: What's the hardest part of the job? Negotiating contracts and having to be blunt about a player's value can't be easy, especially if that player doesn't agree with the dollar figure you've valued him at...

TW: I think that's part of the job. Sometimes they think they're worth more than you're willing to pay and I think you just have to be straightforward and tell them that. Sometimes if it's not what they want to hear, it's just better to communicate it in a straightforward way and let them know that that's how you see the player. I think that's something Dave and I try to do is be direct with the agents and the players. 

B/R: How many pages is a standard contract? 

TW: I think it varies from 15 pages to 50 pages, depending on the complexity. Some of those old first-round rookie deals were probably closer to 100. Some of them were pretty crazy. 

Team	Approx. space
1. Jaguars	$65M
2. Raiders	$54M
3. Jets	$49M
4. Browns	$48M
5. Titans	$43M

B/R: Michael Huyghue was sort of the original capologist in Jacksonville. Do you view him as a mentor? 

TW: He was a guy who was first in charge of football operations and I learned a lot about negotiation and contracts from him. And then after that Paul Vance took his place and I learned a lot from him as well. I think you try to pick up different bits and pieces from different people. There are a lot of smart people in this business and a lot of good people in this business and I try to learn from a lot of people. That helps along the way. 

B/R: You have another employee named Kirsten Grohs who is a "Contract Research and Salary Cap Analyst." Can you tell me about her role and how you two work together on the cap? 

TW: Where she is might be similar to where I was when I first came in. A person who is very bright and hard working who's passionate about football. She was working for [the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL] before, and she came down here. It's a different system, and she has put a lot of time into learning the new CBA and the salary-cap rules. There's a lot of stuff going on, so it does help to have somebody else assisting on these things. 

B/R: What would you say to people who are interested in doing what you do?

TW: I think you have to have a passion for it, and sometimes to get into it you have to take multiple internships and keep trying. It's not something where you can say I want to work for this one NFL club and start out full-time. If you want to work in the NFL, try to contact all 32 clubs and if you can get a foot in the door, take it. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon