I think its going to take a lot more guaranteed money than that to get him to agree. The overall amount may be OK but I think it will take at least 10 million guaranteed, maybe 12 to get him to sign. That doesn't have to be all SB though. Guarantee him a 4 million dollar salary this year or 1 million and a roster bonus or however you want to split it up, on top of an 8 million SB that makes his guaranteed money 12 million and a cap hit this year 6 million. It leaves 16 million to distribute in salary/ roster bonuses over the next three years. The last year includes a 8 million dollar salary. As long as he is playing decent he will be pretty much guaranteed 21 million (we probably wouldn't cut him in years 2 and 3 if he is playing at a high level with cap hits of 6 million per year. It leaves us with 2 million in dead money in year 4 if we cut him.
I just don't think a 4 million bonus up front will cut it unless you guarantee part of the rest of the contact as well. You could go your route and guarantee a 6 million dollar contract this year with a 4 million dollar bonus for a total of 10 million guaranteed and it would lessen the dead money but the cap hits would be a little higher.
The point, yours and mine, is if he will take an average of 6 million per year (actually 7 with our numbers) it is extremely doable and will be stupid if they don't get something done. All that is left to work out are the details.
Originally Posted by: sschind