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Linebacker Za’Darius Smith agreed to a four-year, $35 million contract with the Ravens until he pulled out. But he released the bird in his hand when there was nothing else in the funnel.
Eventually, Smith signed with the Vikings. It’s a three-year, $42 million deal. On the paper. The details, as is often the case, paint a different picture.
Here they are, according to a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Subscription bonus: $5 million.
2. Base salary in 2022: $1.45 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2022 Play Bonus: $3 million ($176,470 per game).
4. Base salary in 2023: $9.45 million, of which $5.05 million will be fully guaranteed in 2023.
5. 2023 Play Bonus: $3 million ($176,470 per game)
6. 2024 90-man squad bonus: $2.5 million.
7. Base salary in 2024: $14.45 million
8. 2024 Play Bonus: $3 million ($176,470 per game)
9. 2022-24 Training Bonus: $50,000.
The deal also includes incentives for 2022 and 2023. The 2022 package each season is $500,000 for 8.5 bags, $750,000 for 10.5 bags, or $1 million for 12.5 bags. In 2023, that’s $1.5 million for 8.5 bags, or $3 million for 10.5 bags, or $4 million for 12.5 bags.
It’s actually a $9.5 million one-year deal, almost a third of which is tied to Smith’s ability to play every game. At best, this is a two-year, $22 million deal.
The bonuses for playing are huge, and for good reason. Due to a back injury, Smith only took 18 snaps in 2021. The Vikings protect themselves from the fact that Smith can miss the time.
The final season with $20 million is nothing but a deal designed to make the deal he signed in Minnesota look better than the one he didn’t make in Baltimore.