The San Francisco 49ers signed Richard Sherman to a three-year contract on Saturday, and a day later, Pro Football Talk has all the contract details. The deal offers Sherman a chance to earn up to $39.15 million, but it also puts much of the onus on him reaching various incentives and performance benchmarks.
The signing bonus was originally reported as $5 million, but it is actually $3 million. Sherman also has a $2 million roster bonus he can earn on the first day of training camp if he passes a physical. Sherman is coming off a torn Achilles, and if he opens camp on the Physically Unable to Perform or Non-Football Injury lists, he would not earn that bonus. This suggests Sherman is confident in his Achilles recovery.
The deal includes bonuses for making the Pro Bowl and earning an All Pro nod. He gets $1 million for a Pro Bowl nod and $2 million for the All Pro. The Pro Bowl incentive includes a couple interesting wrinkles. The first relates to salary and bonuses. If he makes the Pro Bowl in 2018, his 2019 base salary increases by $1 million while his per game roster bonus total decreases by $1 million. The idea being that if he’s on the roster for the season, his base salary is paid regardless of injury, while the in-game roster bonuses depend on him being active. The same holds true for 2019/2020.
The other wrinkle is related to injury and full guarantees. If he makes the Pro Bowl, his 2019 salary becomes guaranteed for injury on the third day of the league year (in March), and fully guaranteed on April 1. The same thing happens with 2020 guarantees and the 2019 Pro Bowl incentive.
Below is a look at each year and the cap hits they appear to entail. His contract can be worth $13.05 million per year, but for the time being, the cap hits are quite reasonable. It’s effectively a one-year deal with team options in 2019 and 2020. He has a cap hit of $5,175,000 for 2018, with $4,875,000 in NLTBE. The NLTBE comes from his playing time, Pro Bowl, and All Pro incentives, plus 7/16th of his in-season roster bonus money.
Suffice to say, Richard Sherman is betting big on himself. He has not been voted to an All Pro team since 2014, but did earn a Pro Bowl nod as recently as 2016. If he gets back on the field by the start of the season, playing time incentive is likely reached. A Pro Bowl vote is a popularity contest as much as anything, but if he bounces back from the Achilles injury, he has a good chance of getting the nod. It’s a lot of money to be made for Sherman, and he is showing confidence in what he can do.
Check out PFT’s explanation of the nuances, and here is how it breaks down year-to-year.
Signing bonus: $3 million
2018
Roster bonus (day 1 of training camp): $2 million
Base salary: $2 million
Prorated signing bonus: $1 million
In-season Roster bonuses: $2 million ($125,000 per game)
Playing time incentive (90% of snaps): $1 million
Pro Bowl incentive: $1 million
All Pro incentive: $2 million
Workout bonus: $50,000
Cap hit: $6,175,000 — Includes roster bonus, base salary, 9/16th of in-season roster bonus, workout bonus, prorated signing bonus
2019
Base salary: $7 million (becomes $8M if he makes Pro Bowl in 2018)
Prorated signing bonus: $1 million
In-season Roster bonuses: $2 million ($125,000 per game) — drops to $1 million if he makes Pro Bowl
Playing time incentive (90% of snaps): $1 million
Pro Bowl incentive: $1 million
All Pro incentive: $2 million
Workout bonus: $50,000
Cap hit: $9,175,000
2020
Base salary: $7 million (becomes $8M if he makes Pro Bowl in 2018)
Prorated signing bonus: $1 million
In-season Roster bonuses: $2 million ($125,000 per game) — drops to $1 million if he makes Pro Bowl
Playing time incentive (90% of snaps): $1 million
Pro Bowl incentive: $1 million
All Pro incentive: $2 million
Workout bonus: $50,000
Cap hit: $9,175,000