http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#18
Reading that, it makes it sound like that's not the way things work. Basically, to start with you have to add all potential exceptions you own onto your committed salary. From there, there are two possibilities:
- If that amount is over the cap, then you can only sign FAs using those exceptions, even if your committed salaries are under the cap.
- If that amount is under the cap, then you forfeit all your exceptions and you only can spend the difference between your committed salaries and the current cap.
Assuming I'm not reading the link wrong, depending on if we renounce Etan and where exactly the cap falls, we can either offer the MLE or a deal ever so slightly above the MLE.
That's all a bit simplified I'm sure, but the basic gist is there. Also, I've made mistakes in the past when reading that FAQ, so if I read something wrong then feel free to correct me.