There's a higher tax and another drop of 10 slots for the next year's draft. That's a couple things.
The 2nd and third years at $10M is what really might be the biggest problem. We will be faced with many decisions concerning the budget, especially if we choose to reset after 2019 or 2020. $10M might not seem like much, but when we are scrambling to scrounge dollars to keep as many of our young stars, $10M might make as big difference.
The Pearce contract is over after 2019, so he has no affect on the choices after 2019 and 2020. Yes, his cost in 2019 might end up making us go over the $40M line, if we sign someone like Ottavino, but if that is the case, then my guess is the $40M line was not a big issue to begin with.
To me, it's not just about the tax and draft penalties for 2019, it's about 2020 and 2021, too.