When signing a player to a longterm contract and when you are trying to front load or backload the salary, what is the rule on how big of a difference in salary there can be from one year to the next?

In other words, I know you can't sign a guy to a 3-year contract with S1 at $15M, S2 $3M and S3 at $3M. But you don't have to go 5-5-5 either, so what is the rule on scattering the salaries across the years of the deal?

I think the percentages vary depending how long the contract is.

You can significantly alter the first year salary with the signing bonus.

Offer a $12M bonus and the 3x$3M contract and you've paid $15M-$3M-$3M.

Some one else will have to answer the actual question. I think it's 10% but I'm not sure.

There is a $10M cap on the bonus. I have found that you need to stay within $2M of salary for all years...

from the help:

In a two-year contract, neither season can comprise more than 60% of the total value of the contract. In a three-year contract, no season can comprise more than 40% of the total value of the contract. In a four-year contract, no season can comprise more than 30% of the total value of the contract. In a five-year contract, no season can comprise more than 25% or less than 10% of the total value of the contract.

Bonuses don't count in the above rules, I think.

Awesome, kahrtmen, that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks everybody.