NFL contracts usually get reported out of the gates with two numbers: (1) total value of base package; and (2) total guaranteed money. The most important factor -- fully guaranteed money -- usually doesn’t get mentioned in the first reports because that number is usually less that the total guarantee.
But money isn’t truly guaranteed unless it’s fully guaranteed.
The official numbers for many of the new free-agency deals are emerging, and one player who reportedly has $24 million in total guarantees has mostly all of that fully guaranteed. Per a source with knowledge of the contract, Jaguars tight end Julius Thomas received $21 million fully guaranteed at signing.
If comes in the form of a $6 million signing bonus and fully guaranteed base salaries of $9 million in 2015 and $6 million in 2016.
Another $3 million in 2017 base salary is guaranteed for injury at signing, and it becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2017 waiver period. The total base salary is $7 million in 2017, $8.5 million in 2018, and $9 million in 2019.
The contract also includes $100,000 in annual workout bonuses, driving the total package to $46 million over five years with an average of $9.2 million per year.
The cap numbers are $10.3 million, $7.3 million, $8.3 million, $9.8 million, and $10.3 million. As a practical matter, it’s a two-year, $21 million deal with a year-to-year option for another $25 million over three.
