Rhodes' contract contains a $4.78 million hole
Posted by Mike Florio on November 25, 2009 2:10 PM ET
In response to the news that the Jets have benched safety Kerry Rhodes, he likely can take some solace in his contract that pays him $20 million guaranteed, right?

Well, not completely.

A league source tells us that a large chunk of Rhodes' guaranteed money is guaranteed for injury only, and not for skill. So if the Jets cut Rhodes, the guaranteed money won't be paid.

So if the Jets opt to sever ties with Rhodes before the 2010 season, he won't earn a $2 million guaranteed (for injury only) roster bonus or a $2.78 million guaranteed (for injury only) base salary.

That's $4.78 million in supposedly guaranteed money that will evaporate if the benching is the first step toward a bumping of Rhodes from the roster.

As Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News points out, Rhodes has yet to register a single impact play in 10 games. He has zero interceptions, no sacks, no forced fumbles, and no fumble recoveries.

Cimini believes that the benching traces to Rhodes' failure to deliver a big hit to Pats receiver Wes Welker on Sunday, during a play in which Welker gained 15 yards.

As Cimini also points out, there are rumblings that Rhodes isn't sufficiently focused on football, given his fledgling acting and modeling career.

"PFTalk" wrote:

Why should the team guarantee vast sums of money in case of injury? That's the job of an insurance company, not a sports franchise. If teams want to protect their players in case of career-ending injury -- a move I applaud, by the away -- they should be taking out disability policies on them. That way they reduce their investment; shift the majority of the risk to the insurance company, where it belongs; and prevent their players from being screwed over by the cold vagaries of chance.

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote: