Matthew Stafford's 2009 cap number: $3.1 million 
May 8, 2009 5:00 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Last weekend, I used a speculative example to help explain how Detroit will be able to fit quarterback Matthew Stafford's record-setting contract under its rookie pool allotment of $8.074 million this year. Now, thanks to some digging from an informed blogger, we can use definitive numbers.

Based on the salary numbers compiled here by J.I. Halsell, a former salary cap analyst for Washington, we can tell you that Stafford will have a 2009 salary cap figure of $3.1 million. (Halsell's work also appears over at Football Outsiders.)

Below are the highlights of the deal, which is for six years and $72 million -- with escalators that could bring the total to $78 million. The guaranteed portion is $41.7 million. (I verified the figures with an independent source who has access to them, and they are spot-on.)

The Lions guaranteed Stafford's base salaries in 2009 ($3.1 million), 2010 ($395,000) and 2011 ($9 million). Also, $2.7 million of his 2012 base salary ($10.5 million) is guaranteed. Total here: $15.195 million guaranteed.
Stafford does not receive a signing bonus. Instead, the Lions will pay him two different types of bonuses in 2010: A one-time payment of $9.105 million based on playing time and an option bonus of $17.4 million. They account for the remaining $26.505 million in guarantees.
As a result, Stafford will receive $3.1 million in compensation in 2009. In 2010, he will receive a whopping $26.9 million. In 2011, his compensation will be $9 million. Assuming he makes it through the fourth year of his contract, Stafford will have earned $49.5 million over that span.
By scheduling option and one-time bonuses in 2010, the Lions created a situation where Stafford's 2009 base salary is the only factor in his cap number for this year. That's how a player with a $72 million contract can be squeezed into a rookie pool number.

For cap purposes, Stafford's one-time bonus will all count in 2010. The option bonus, by NFL rule, will prorate over the final five years of the deal. It's the exact strategy contemplated here by another informed blogger, AdamJT13, who we have referenced before here and here. He proposed the structure as a way to give players more guaranteed money while limiting the 2009 cap hit as a possible uncapped year looms in 2010.