Last week, the Cardinals acquired cornerback Jamar Taylor from the Browns. In order to facilitate the deal, Taylor agreed to a restructured contract. It turns out that Taylor has taken a significant pay cut in order to play opposite of Patrick Peterson. 
Taylor’s base salary will drop from $4.25M to $975K under the terms of his revised deal, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. His overall cap number has decreased by $2.75M thanks to the adjustment.
That marks a substantial hair cut for Taylor, especially when considering that he signed his three-year, $15MM extension less than a year-and-a-half ago. However, Taylor was unlikely to make the Browns’ final cut after the additions of T.J. Carrie, E.J. Gaines, Terrance Mitchell, and No. 4 overall pick Denzel Ward this offseason. Faced with the prospect of hitting free agency in the summer when teams have already set their CB plans or taking less money to (likely) start in Arizona, Taylor went with the latter.
It’s not immediately clear whether the 2019 portion of Taylor’s deal has also been tweaked. Assuming the ’19 season remains untouched, he remains on course to earn a base salary of $4.075MM with a $5.1MM cap number. However, the Cardinals would be left with just $750K if they were to release him under those terms.
In 2016, Taylor ranked as one of the 20 best corners in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. He took a step back last year, but the Cardinals are optimistic that he can revert to his old form. Even if he performs somewhere in between, that’s still preferable to the team’s other CB2 options, which include Brandon Williams, Bene Benwikere, and Marcus Williams.