Restructure, Rework, Or Pay Cut: Which One Is Best To Describe Byard's New Deal?

While restructuring seems appropriate to describe Kevin Byard's new deal with the Tennessee Titans, some in the media suggest it's more of a rework or even a strait up pay cut.

NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Titans made some negative headlines earlier this offseason when it became public that the team has requested star safety Kevin Byard take a pay cut. Byard declined, and the rest became some semi-ugly history.  

Now that Byard and the team have agreed on some 'adjustment' to his deal to clear some $3 million in cap space, likely headed toward the recently signed DeAndre Hopkins, the relationship between team and player seems to be better. 

So now to the semantics of the word "restructure," which Ian Rappaport used to describe the new deal in his initial report, breaking the news on social media. 

The definition of restructure is as follows 

1. To alter the makeup or pattern of.
2. To make a basic change in (an organization or a system, for example).
3. To alter the structure of something.

All three terms apply to what the Titans and Byard have agreed to do here. They "altered the makeup" of his current deal. 

They also made "a basic change in" his deal, and they "did alter the structure of something,"  which in this case was his current contract. 

Now one could also call this a rework, as they certainly did rework the terms here, and others could also say this was a straight-up pay cut, as, at this point, there have been no details as to if Byard received any future considerations into 2024 or beyond on his deal. 

Remember that the initial report indicated Byard had agreed to take $3 million less this season, with "incentives" to earn that money back.

That seems to qualify as a pay cut, but without all the details, there could be some remunerations coming Byard's way, such as some signing bonus or future years added to the deal. 

In the end, perhaps it's best to wait for the final details to emerge before we try to diagnose the final setup of this deal, but either way, to say this was a restructuring isn't inaccurate.

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