Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson has taken notice of the contract cornerback Joe Haden got from the Browns.
Shortly after we reported that Haden had signed a new contract that includes $22 million fully guaranteed at signing and another $23 million guaranteed for injury, for a total guarantee of $45 million, Peterson had one thing to say on Twitter: The number 45 with five exclamation points.
45!!!!!
— Patrick Peterson /P2 (@P2) May 13, 2014
Peterson also said in an interview on FOX Sports 910 that he expects to get a new deal done, although he acknowledged that with two years left on his current contract, the Cardinals can take their time about getting a deal done.
“We are in the beginning stages and we are talking right now, but when it comes down to negotiating both sides have to come to an agreement,” Peterson said. “I don’t know if a deal will get done this year, but I’m confident a deal will get done. But I don’t have a timetable for it. We will see what happens in the near future. I’m OK if it takes time because obviously I have two years left on my current deal, one year left on my rookie deal and then they picked up the option for a fifth year and we will see where it goes.”
The Cardinals don’t need to be in any hurry about giving Peterson a new deal: They get him for an absolute bargain of $2.9 million in 2014, and his fifth-year option is $10 million in 2015. They could then franchise him in 2016 for about $12 million and could even franchise him again in 2017 for $14.4 million. Peterson would get a lot more than a four-year, $39.3 million contract on the open market, but the Cardinals have the leverage to hold onto him for $39.3 million over the next four years if they so choose.
Given that leverage, it will be interesting to see if Peterson can still get a deal that’s in the range of Haden’s and Richard Sherman’s -- a deal that’s worthy of five exclamation points on Twitter.