Mellor signed a 3 year deal apparently

If the rumours ARE true about Watkins then so be it,bye bye.
Great player(when fit)but we have to be honest here and admit he wouldn't get into a national league team on present form.GH&KS know what's needed and big changes will come and we as fans may not like it.Be assured it will come

True

I can't see how Leeds could force Watkins to take a pay cut if he's got a contract unless there are some odd clauses in there. If he's upset because they've raised the possibility then he needs to visit the real world where we're hovering around the relegation zone and he's been so poor he's been pushed into the second row. I understand the injury and recovery but if if we have both Newman and Hurrell centre isn't exactly our weakest position. I'm not sure that these articles are necessarily in Watkins' best interest either - whilst most fans will have some sympathy, I'm sure all most of us care about is staying in SL.

What this might help explain is how we've got into this position with such a mediocre squad. If Leeds started to backload contracts (delay increases for some players to stay under the cap) then its probably no surprise. It destroyed the rosters of both Manly and the Bulldogs under Des Hasler. Both clubs built strong teams on the back of promised major pay rises for good squad players, only to realise they ended up paying massive wages to players who weren't that vital in the first place and were also in some cases well past their best. The Dogs are still wrecked from it (last year they were reportedly paying Greg Eastwood $750k to play reserve grade because he understandably refused to take a pay cut to move elsewhere).

There is a lot of devil in the detail of players' contracts which we're just not privy to, but nevertheless constrains KS in what he wants to do.
You're right that back-ended contracts are a great way to put a time bomb under a club.
Why don't they try a basic salary reflective of how senior a player they are, topped up with regular performance bonuses based on form? We have Opta stats if nothing else.
If a player is injured then insurance kicks in to protect their income at whatever level.
Trying to guess what any player might be worth, in terms of contribution, even 1 season ahead is usually impossible.

Because of a Salary Cap. Nothing wrong in what you suggest, but could not work in a salary cap, and why the clubs do such things as back ended contracts, to manage over a period.

The Watkins one though is a bit different, in that he only signed it a year ago his new contract, and who was to know at that time that he would break down with a serious injury. There should of cause probably be a clause that says, subject to any injury or period out, although even then I think the salary cap takes the value for the year regardless of that. With the only alteration to that is if they are out for a full season, then you can deregister, but of course have the same issue again the following year, in the hope that player has fully recovered.

You could cap any pay to a maximum level but yes I take your point, salary cap makes this very tricky!
So I’m back on Franchising and ditching the salary cap, with financial controls to stop clubs going bust built into the franchise agreement instead....

Watkins confirmed leaving by club

Salford exchange deal for Hastings?

If only Carlsberg did exchange deals

He's from Salford. Makes sense.

Does anyone have any info on progress with Dwyer and particularly Cam Smith in contracts going forward?