I wonder if Gudbranson might be willing to take a fairly low AAV to get some term and maybe trade protection. Bouncing between 6 teams over the last 4 seasons can't have been a lot of fun, and perhaps he appreciates a good situation when he sees it.
While he hasn't made huge money, he's also had some decent deals and managed to earn $26M in the 8 years since his ELC.
This is a little crazy...but what if we offered him something like 8x1.5M? In 5 years the buried threshold will probably be 1.25M or higher, so you're risking a few years of ~$250k buried penalty.
It's hard to say what his market will be in UFA this year...maybe he can get a 3x3? Which means he'd need to earn at least another $3M after age 33 to beat out that 8 year deal - which would also be better for him from a tax and security perspective.
Save ~1.5M on the cap for 3-4 years, and then possibly burn $250k for 4-5 years...
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