I forget how this works. I’m going to have a little leftover money this season. Can I sign one of my upcoming FA to an extension and give them a signing bonus, therefore lowering their AAV? Does the signing bonus come out of this years player payroll? Does providing a signing bonus allow you to lower the AAV if the total contract value meets their demands?

You can give them a signing bonus but it comes out of next year's payroll.

You can lower AAV by giving a bonus. So if a player is looking for $5m x 5 years, $25m total contract value, you can give a $10m bonus and $3m x 5 years, $25m total contract value and it's the same.