The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin writes that Collin Kaepernick’s new contract is not nearly as large as it seems. As our own Luke Adams thoroughly outlined earlier this week, Kaepernick is only truly guaranteed the amount of his signing bonus combined with the NFL minimum that he is set to make next season: $12.973MM-a figure well short of the recent guaranteed money recently given to Aaron Rodgers ($54MM), Matt Ryan ($42MM), and Tony Romo ($40MM) . Over the next three seasons total, Kaepernick will essentially be guaranteed $44MM, a figure that falls short of future three-year earnings of both Joe Flacco ($62MM) and Jay Cutler ($47MM). Kaepernick will need to earn the vast majority of the quoted $126MM total value of the contract on the gridiron. Here are some other news bits from around the league:
- Former Alabama star lineman Barrett Jones is ready to compete to become the primary interior swingman for the Rams after losing most of his rookie season to injury, writes Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. Jones will figure to become the Rams‘ long-term starter at center.
- Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times thinks that arrival of Jared Allen bodes very well for fellow recent Bears‘ free agent acquisition Lamarr Houston.
- Brandon George from the Sports Day DFW projects that expectations will be high for second year safety J.J. Wilcox, who George has penciled in to start for the Cowboys alongside Barry Church heading into the 2014-2015 Season.
- Eagles‘ nose tackle Bennie Logan added 10 additional pounds to his frame this offseason, bringing his playing weight to 317-319 pounds, writes Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. While Logan is still lighter than the average NFL nose tackle’s average weight, he thinks that his size is ideal for the Eagles’ particular defensive schemes.