Ray McDonald restructured contract includes signing bonus, voidable years

Last Friday, word got out that the San Francisco 49ers restructured Ray McDonald's contract. There are slightly more important things to worry about with regard to McDonald, but we are now seeing some details as to McDonald's new contract.

Over at the NFLPA salary database, McDonald's previous 2014 salary of $3.5 million has decreased to $855,000. The $2.645 million difference has been turned into a signing bonus. Additionally, two more years were added onto the deal, worth $6 million per year in 2017 and 2018. However, as I understand it, those are both voidable years. They are added because it allows the team to prorate that $2.645 million over five seasons, instead of the three that were remaining on his contract. That results in $529,000 per season in terms of the cap hit on the new bonus. If this all sounds familiar, it might be because Jason Hurley suggested this as a likely possibility a couple days ago when he broke down the 49ers cap situation.

This new contract raises some questions in light of McDonald's arrest over the weekend. Tuesday morning, Jim Harbaugh said there is a zero tolerance policy for domestic violence, and the team also believes in the right of due process. We have no idea how the McDonald situation will play out, so we can't say if or when the 49ers might release McDonald. However, there would be notable salary cap ramifications if such a move was made.