Quoting: Jacketsman61
No deal. I would rather buy out Elvis than retain and give up an asset.
Half retention equates to roughly $7.88M in total dollars over three years; buy-out cost is $10.95 over six. I understand the relative cap hits are very different over that time, but its still a difference of $1.6M, $1M, and -$200k over three with retention, and I don't see us being in a cap crunch over that time (partiuclarly with an increasing cap lowering the % hit of the retention). Frankly, a half retained trade is probably the overall best route, IMO. The difference would be adding the cost of a Elvis replacement, which is either Husso or some low-level guy from the UFA heap; so, admittedly, reviewing the cost here will have to factor that price in.
That being said, with half retention, I dont think I'm adding an asset to the trade. Elvis was just as good (bad) as Husso last year Best case, Elvis bounces back and DET has a starter; and worst case DET is getting a guy who is not a bad value as a back-up at the price.
The buy-out would also be hilariously cheap.