http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=1748909 $34.5 million bonus!!@##$*$&#$@#$ Are you kidding me? The NFL's best player is also its richest player. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has agreed in principle to a landmark $99.2 million, seven-year contract that will pay him a league-record $14.17 million annually, ESPN.com has learned through league sources. The deal, expected to be officially signed later Tuesday, also includes a record $34.5 million signing bonus. It is technically for nine years, but the final two seasons will be voided if Manning, who has never missed a game in his professional career, simply reaches league minimum playing time benchmarks. Sources said the 27-year-old Manning can earn, relatively early in the contract, an additional $19 million in incentives, although Colts officials deny that total. The eighth and ninth years, included for bookkeeping purposes and to protect the Colts against an extension of the collective bargaining agreement, are for base salaries of $1 million each season. The deal gives Indianapolis much-needed salary cap relief. Since all teams must be in compliance with the NFL's $80.6 million salary cap by Tuesday at 4 ET, the Colts -- saddled by Manning's record cap charge -- scrambled to renegotiate the contracts of at least a half-dozen veterans. Five veterans also were released outright. Only some minor paperwork needs completing, and a final draft of the contract must be submitted to Manning and his representatives. But sources emphasized that substantive negotiating points have been finalized. There are any number of methods employed to determine the overall worth of an NFL contract, but by virtually all of the most recognized valuation standards, the Manning deal is clearly the most lucrative in NFL history. His average annual salary will dwarf those in the $100 million deals that quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Brett Favre and others have signed in recent years. Colts owner Jim Irsay told ESPN.com during Super Bowl week that he was prepared to make Manning the highest-paid player in history, but cautioned that Indianapolis might not be able to push the bar too high because of resultant roster ramifications. The bar, though, has now been moved higher than most experts believed it would be. For agents Tom Condon and Ken Kremer of IMG Football, who have negotiated some of the biggest contracts in NFL history and devised the structure by which most quarterback deals are now done, Manning's represents months of arduous work on a complicated contract. Beyond catapulting the league's co-most valuable player for 2003 into a new financial stratosphere, completing the contract will allow the Colts to operate in free agency. The Colts designated Manning as their exclusive "franchise" player on Feb. 23, meaning that no other team could negotiate with him but also resulting in a record $18.4 million salary cap charge for the 2004 season. In privately discussing the moves that might have to be made if Manning did not agree to a long-term contract, Colts officials told counterparts league wide they they might face an "offensive Armageddon" and even mentioned potentially releasing running back Edgerrin James. While some cuts made to create cap room will hurt the Colts' depth, all of the players released were ticketed for an exit from Indianapolis anyway. Manning's new contract, however, should permit the Colts to conduct business as usual and to make qualifying offers to their restricted free agents before the deadline. It is believed that, when Manning signs the contract, his salary cap charge for '04 will now be more than halved. The two sides have been negotiating a new deal off-and-on for months and most NFL observers acknowledged that the Colts backed themselves into a corner by not addressing Manning's contract situation much earlier. Two years ago, it is believed that Colts president/general manager Bill Polian approached Manning's agents about possibly improving the situation, but those talks quickly ceased. Polian had placed a Monday deadline on finishing a long-term deal, citing the possible necessity for making further player cuts and the need to determine the shape of the Colts' roster if forced to carry Manning's burdensome $18.4 million cap charge. Negotiations early Monday appeared headed in a positive direction, but then turned sour in the evening. Polian and Condon resumed talks later Monday night and finalized an agreement early Tuesday morning. As usual in such deals, a sense of urgency served as catalyst for heightening the negotiations, as the club couldn't realistically afford to carry such a large cap value for Manning for a second consecutive season. Manning had a cap charge in excess of $15 million for 2003. There certainly were times, given the natures of Polian and Condon, when the discussions went beyond contentious. Only last week, at the Indianapolis airport, patrons of an airline courtesy club witnessed what might kindly be called an animated exchange between the two men as they discussed Manning's contract during the league's draft combine. Coming off a season in which he led the Colts to within one game of the Super Bowl, Manning, 27, is the consensus top player in the league. Manning was chosen first overall in the 1998 draft out of Tennessee. He's thrown for more than 3,000 yards in all six seasons in the league, and only once failed to surpass 4,000 yards. Manning has started 96 straight regular-season games and has completed 2,128 of 3,383 passes for 24,885 yards, with 167 touchdown passes, 110 interceptions and a QB rating of 88.1. Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
Here's to everyone that says look at how nice the NFL is, they don't have to pay their players if then don't perform. I've said it before and I'll say it again, players will sign short contracts, ask for high signing bonuses, and hold out. Look at Portis, had two good seasons, didn't feel like he was getting the market value so he forced a trade and got a huge contract and BONUS from the skins. Parity is everywhere and no team can hold the same team together and loyalty definitely wont be there if you know it's a one way street. So what we see is that you can hold a good team together for a max of 3 -4 years if you're lucky and then you can kiss half of the players goodbye because of FA and holdouts and get ready to rebuild.
Who knows these days with the NFL. It's just hard to root for a team when you know in 3 years half the guys will be gone. And yes, it's probably defense, where it's harder for a player to make a name for himself.
Portis was due to be paid around 800K (way below markey) next year thats why he was complaining. But, I do think you may be on to something with players starting to ask for higher signing bonuses. I hadnt thought about it before but what happens if players start demanding a greater portion of the contracts in signing bonuses?
The trade happen more because Bailey wasn't happy with his contract. The skins designated him as their Franchise player, which means he'll be one of the highest paid players in his position and he still isn't happy because he feels he should be THE highest paid player in his position. We are gonna see this happen more and more, as soon as a young player have a single or even two to three good season, he will hold out for a bigger contract.
Signing a 63 million contract for 7 years, I believe, makes Champ Bailey the highest paid player at his position, albeit it is now with the Broncos.
That's what I am saying, players will keep asking for a bigger contract even if his current contract is one of the top five in the league because they know they are judged on year by year basis. The result is they will ask for a contract on year by year basis.
I wonder what this Manning deal does for the Indy stadium effort. On the one hand, the Colts have made a deal to keep their franchise player, but on the other hand, one has to ask that if they can afford this contract (with huge signing bonus), what do they need a new stadium for?
By renegotiating his contract and taking a larger signing bonus and a smaller salary, Manning actually lowers his cap hit to the Colts and helps them sign free agents. Bonuses are prorated over the life of the contract whether the player is stil playing or not. Salaries count their full value against the cap every year. It was a win/win deal.
I know that if any player in the NFL deserves a contract like this, it should be Manning. The guy's only 27 and will arguably the best QB for at least the next 5 or so years. That said, is he REALLY worth the money? The Colts have a situation where they've become very susceptible to injuries. With Manning eating up such a huge amount of cap space, it's incredibly difficult for the Colts to be deep anywhere on the field, unless they draft ridiculously well. This means that they might be a Super Bowl contender if healthy, but also possibly being out of the playoffs with a couple of key injuries.
