Here are the details from the latest contracts agreed to around the NFL:
- Ryan Tannehill, QB (Titans): Tannehill’s restructured deal will pay out a $1.5MM base salary in 2021 and count $11.1MM against the cap, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Those numbers jump back up beginning in 2022, with Tannehill set to earn a $29MM base salary and count $38.6MM against Tennessee’s cap. In 2023, Tannehill is due a $27MM base and will be a $36.6MM cap hit. The Titans used two void years (2024 and ’25) to help create more than $15MM in cap space.
- Marshon Lattimore, CB (Saints): Four years, $120MM, according to Yates (on Twitter). Like New Orleans’ Taysom Hill deal, this contract is flush with void years and does not reflect true value. Lattimore’s fifth-year option ($10.2MM) will be spread onto the Saints’ 2021 and ’22 salary caps, with $2.841MM on this year’s cap and $7.403MM next year, according to OverTheCap. Lattimore remains under contract through 2021.
- Gus Edwards, RB (Ravens): Two years, $10MM. Edwards will collect a $3.75MM signing bonus and earn base salaries of $1MM (2021), $3.25MM (’22) and $4.38MM (’23) on this extension, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic notes (subscription required).
- Ja’Wuan James, OT (Ravens): One year, up to $9MM. James will receive a $500K signing bonus but count just $250K toward Baltimore’s cap this year, Zrebiec adds. If James is on the Ravens’ roster on the fifth day of the 2022 league year, he will collect a $500K roster bonus. In that scenario, James’ 2022 base salary will be $2.5MM. He would then count $3.25MM against the Ravens’ 2022 cap. $5MM in incentives round out the deal.
- De’Vondre Campbell, LB (Packers): One year, $2MM, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein (on Twitter). Campbell will receive a $1.1MM signing bonus and count $1.19MM against Green Bay’s 2021 cap. The Packers tacked on four void years, creating an $808K cap hit in 2022. The deal also contains $500K in playing-time incentives.
Can’t wait for either Jones (10+ catches a game) or Henry (23+ carries a game) to start complaining they aren’t getting the ball enough, i.e., there simply are not enough touches for two star offensive talents on one team.
See 2020 Buccaneers
The Lattimore deal is yet another example of all the wonderful loopholes and manipulation that define the NFL salary cap. The announced “contracts” are a complete joke as such a low percentage of them are ever executed as originally designed. I can’t believe the NFL hasn’t done something to end this absurdity and at least make some kind of effort to make the salary cap a legitimate thing. Anyone got a guess on what % of contracts are “restructured” in one way or another?
FYI – I shouldn’t have singled out Lattimore…almost all of the contracts listed above are of similar legitimacy…the Lattimore one just brought back memories of the ridiculous Taysom Hill contract, so I wrongly singled it out. It’s nice that Goodell has made the league so much money, but couldn’t he have done it without allowing it to look like such a joke on so many fronts? The games are on HOW MANY different networks now? Please
Just be thankful it isn’t nearly as terrible as baseball, where the big market teams have players worth an entire payroll for smaller market teams.