The San Francisco 49ers officially signed center/guard Weston Richburg to a five year contract on Wednesday, and now we have some preliminary details. The deal is worth up to $47.5 million, according to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport. The deal includes $28.5 million in total guarantees, with $16.5 million fully guaranteed.
We need to wait and see what the contract structure looks like before we can fully assess the deal. That being said, the most notable figure is that fully guaranteed number. If that holds up, it is more than Daniel Kilgore’s entire contract extension. Kilgore signed a three-year deal worth up to $11.75 million. He had $4.8 million fully guaranteed at signing.
The APY on NFL contracts is kind of a bogus number given that most NFL players either are cut, renegotiate or otherwise extend their contract before it ends. In this case, Richburg’s $9.5 million per year would make him the second highest paid center behind Brandon Linder. His $16.5 million in fully guaranteed money ranks fourth behind Alex Mack, Linder, and Travis Frederick.
Richburg’s best position has been center. Money talks, and in this case, center makes a lot of sense.