From time to time, an argument arises that all NFL contracts should be fully guaranteed. Although the consequences of such a move would be for most NFL contracts to be shorter, it would also make the contracts much more fair.
More accurately, it would make them truly bilateral.
When a contract moves past the guaranteed years, a clear imbalance emerges. The player remains bound. The team can tear up the contract whenever it chooses. Or the team can squeeze the player to take less.
So if the player performs better than anyone expected, the player is stuck. If the player underperforms, he’s gone.
That’s not a normal feature in contracts. If there’s a provision permitting termination of the deal “without cause,” both sides have the power to walk away. Once an NFL contract becomes non-guaranteed, the team can walk away. The player cannot.
For this reason, it’s prudent for the non-guaranteed years to include a roster bonus due early in the league year. or a term that converts non-guaranteed salary to a guarantee. That forces the team to make a decision early, while there’s still money available elsewhere in free agency.
Otherwise, the team can squat on the player until just before the start of the regular season before approaching him with an ultimatum to take less, or take a hike — at a time when it will be hard to find anything else.
Keep that in mind as teams dump players in advance of the start of the new league year. Also, keep that in mind when digesting the reports about the total value of contracts. In a sport that does not have fully-guaranteed deals, the only number that truly matters is the fully-guaranteed money.
