What does a long-term contract allow teams to do regarding salary cap management?

A long-term contract enables teams to manage their salary cap effectively by utilizing prorated bonuses. When a player signs a long-term deal, the signing bonus can be spread out over the length of the contract for salary cap purposes. This means that if a player receives a large signing bonus, the team can divide that bonus by the number of years in the deal, thus reducing the annual "cap hit" associated with that bonus.

For example, if a player signs a five-year contract with a $10 million signing bonus, the team would only allocate $2 million of that bonus against the salary cap each year, instead of the entire $10 million in the first year. This strategy allows teams to create more flexibility in their salary cap management, enabling them to allocate resources towards other players or needs within their roster without exceeding the cap limit. Therefore, the ability to manage cap hit through prorated bonuses is a key advantage conferred by long-term contracts.