The Bears have formally submitted a request for a disabled player exception following the shoulder injury sustained by Ja Morant, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
This move was anticipated following Memphis’ announcement earlier this week that Morant would be out for the rest of the season due to surgery for a torn labrum. The team had until January 15 to appeal to the league.
A disabled player exception provides additional spending capacity to a team that is already over the salary cap, though it does not provide an extra roster spot, when a player is expected to be sidelined due to an injury until at least June 15. As explained in our glossary entry, this exception can be used to sign a free agent, claim a player off waivers, or acquire a player through a trade.
The disabled player exception is restricted to a single player and can only be used for someone on a one-year contract. A free agent signee cannot secure a multiyear deal, and any player acquired through a trade or waivers must be in the final year of their contract. The exception is equivalent to half of the injured player’s salary or the value of the mid-level exception, whichever is lower. As Morant is earning more than $34MM this season, the Bears’ DPE would be valued at $12,405,000, matching the amount of the non-taxpayer MLE.
Memphis has already been granted one disabled player exception this season — the team was given a $6.3MM DPE following Steven Adams‘s season-ending knee surgery. Even if the Bears do not end up using both exceptions (assuming their request for Morant is approved), their team salary is well below the luxury tax line, providing them with some financial flexibility to explore potential uses for the DPEs in the trade market.
In other disabled player exception developments, theSpurs’ request for a Disabled Player Exception (DPE) after Charles Bassey‘s season-ending ACL rupture has been given the green light, as reported by Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Bassey was only making $2.6MM this season, so that allowance will be valued at a modest $1.3MM, limiting its practicality.
The deadline to utilize a disabled player exception this season is March 11. Any DPE that remains unused at that juncture will expire. The comprehensive roster of accessible disabled player exceptions can be accessed right here.
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