"Money owed to a player released under contract may be financed through a contract buyout. This can be done by adding up the total remaining contract amount, multiplying it by 1.1 rounded up to the nearest $500k. This amount may be divided up any way you choose as long as the number of years is not more than what it was before AND that no salary owed in any year is more than an amount in a prior year."
Since the interpretation being given requires a 1.1% fee on the full contract, I don't see how buying out the remaining years of a contract circumvents the spirit of the rule. Granted, on a player like Ronny Paulino, with a small contract of $1.5m (2013), the fee is only an additional $0.5m, but I'm still required to pay $3.5m for a player who is basically worthless. If the contract was bigger, like say an even equally worthless player like Luke Hughes $2.0m (2014), I couldn't afford it. I think the point about others suddenly getting the incentive to buy out recently released contracts is a bit of a stretch, no disrespect to the Commish, since we are being required to buy out the full contract, not the reduced one AND pay the 1.1% fee on top of that.
Even though my team is a little more competitive this year, the Giants are still pretty crappy. Additionally, because of the uniqueness of this league, the Giants salary cap is going to be reduced in the years to come and if I don't save a few dollars here and there, my team will never compete because I'll have roster spots filled by deadbeats.
My early time in this league have put me in a bad position because I made trades with a Yahoo mentality instead of an FGM mindset. So I have to resort to seldom used things in the rules, like buyots, if I hope to compete. I'm not looking to circumvent anything or abuse the spirit of our league--that's why I did some checking with senior league members before proceeding. My buyout of Ronny Paulino's contract is within the rules as they are written and should be approved.
Buyout:
C Ronny Paulino, $3.5m (2012)
Current 2012 contract $1.5m + 2013 contract $1.5m + 1.1% fee $0.5m = $3.5m