The Seahawks don’t have much to lose in their contract with wide receiver Brandon Marshall. The veteran’s $90K signing bonus represents the only guaranteed portion of his one-year deal, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). 
The modest signing bonus means that the Seahawks can bail on the deal between now and September if Marshall does not play up to par in practice. If he does make the team, he’s in line for just $1.015MM in base pay. After that, he can earn another $1MM through incentives to bring the value of his deal as high as $2.155MM. Here’s the complete breakdown of those bonuses, courtesy of Yates:
- 40-49 receptions: $75K
- 50-59 receptions: $125K
- 60-69 receptions: $250K
- 70+ receptions: $350K
- 500-599 receiving yards: $75K
- 600-699 yards: $125K
- 700-799 receiving yards: $250K
- 800+receiving yards: $350K
- 7+ receiving touchdowns: $350K
Assuming all goes well in Seattle over the next three months and change, a decent chunk of Marshall’s incentives should be attainable. Even in a down year with the Jets in 2016, Marshall still had 59 catches for 788 yards and three touchdowns. If he were to reprise that stat line, the 34-year-old would earn $375K of the potential ~$1MM payout. Add another reception to that total and Marshall is looking at $500K, roughly half of his potential bonus earnings.
Of course, Marshall didn’t come close to those numbers last year as an early season injury sidelined him for all but five games in 2017. He’ll do his best to get back to his 2015 output when he had 109 catches for 1,502 yards and 14 touchdowns – numbers that would allow him to max out his Seahawks deal and, more importantly, position him for a better deal in 2019, should he choose to continue playing in his age-35 season. In December, Marshall indicated that he would like to play through the ’19 season.
If Marshall is healthy, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him positioned as the team’s No. 2 wide receiver behind Doug Baldwin. Tyler Lockett, free agent addition Jaron Brown, and speedy trade acquisition Marcus Johnson figure to round out Seattle’s top five. Until last year’s injury-shortened season, Marshall averaged 164 targets per 16 games as an NFL starter.
Not surprising, but he still stands to succeed in this environment. Seahawks see him as a vital big body blocker, so it’s not just the passing game. Marshall has been a good blocker during his career.
Marshall has also been a huge clubhouse cancer, for every team he’s been on
When you bring a guy like that into your locker room, you must be desperate