Last Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers announced they had signed Joe Staley to a contract extension that will keep him in town through 2019. We had some numbers thrown around by Albert Breer and Ian Rapoport, but Jason Fitzgerald over at Over The Cap has what appears to be the full rundown.
Jason described this as basically an entirely new contract with options years, bonuses and escalators mixed in. You can check out Staley's previous contract for comparison's sake, but below is how his current deal looks. On his current deal that was through 2017, he got an additional $2 million in 2018.
Most of the new money comes in the form of options bonuses worth $10 million. The 49ers added two years onto Staley's contract, each worth $4.8 million in base salary. Those appear to be "option years", and if they 49ers pick up the options, they will pay Staley a bonus for each. According to Jason, the 49ers have to decide on the 2018 option year during the 2015 league year, and they have to decide on the 2019 option year in the 2016 league year. If they pick up the 2018 option year, they will pay Staley a $6 million bonus at the time of exercise. If they pick up the 2019 option year, they will pay Staley $4 million at the time of exercise.
In doing this, Staley gets more up-front money, in exchange for cheaper back-end salaries in 2018 and 2019. It benefits Staley in that since he'll be 34 and 35 in those final two seasons, he gets some insurance in case he breaks down. On the other hand, if Staley holds up, the 49ers get a good deal on a left tackle for the final two seasons.
The most glaring issue will be that 2017 cap figure. Staley's previous deal had a $6.95 million cap figure for 2017, and his new deal bumps up to $11.15 million. Kap's cap figure that season will be $19.36 million, which means the 49ers will have over $30 million locked up in two players. It was bound to happen eventually, but it just means the 49ers will have to continue finding those hidden and not so hidden gems in the draft.
2014
Base salary: $2,700,000
Roster bonus: $500,000
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap figure: $3,400,000
2015
Base salary: $4,500,000
Roster bonus: $500,000
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap figure: $6,400,000
2016
Base salary: $5,400,000
Roster bonus: $500,000
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap figure: $8,300,000
2017
Base salary: $8,250,000
Roster bonus: $500,000
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap figure: $11,150,000
2018
Base salary: $4,800,000
Roster bonus: $500,000
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap figure: $7,700,000
2019
Base salary: $4,800,000
Roster bonus: $500,000
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap figure: $7,700,000