When the San Francisco 49ers signed defensive lineman Arik Armstead to a five-year, $85 million contract, everyone wanted to know the details in the contract. Knowing the Niners, it was never going to be as simple as $17 million a year. From OvertheCap:
Armstead received $45.85 million in guarantees, $34.15 million of which is guaranteed at signing. His initial guarantee is made up of his 2020 and 2021 base salaries, a $17.5 million signing bonus, and a protected $7.5 million 2021 option bonus. If Armstead is on the roster on April 1, 2022, another $5.85 million becomes fully guaranteed. There are $750,000 in per-game bonuses in the final four contract years. The 2025 season is a void contract year used for the purposes of lowering cap charges during the contract. The contract voids if no extension is reached by the fifth day of the 2025 waiver period.
Here is a breakdown of the cap hit by year:
2020: $6M
2021: $12.5M
2022: $20M
2023: $21.74M
2024: $23.26M
2025: $18.5M (Voids on 5th day of waiver claim which is after the Super Bowl)
Armstead will receive $34.15 million in full guarantees and $45.85 in total guarantees. No matter how you slice it, it’s a team-friendly deal. Armstead also has a $7.5 million option bonus that will be prorated from 2021-25. That’s why the cap numbers above work out the way that they do. In short, it’s a three-year deal. The 49ers can get out after Year 2 if the option bonus is exercised, and that would mean $6.65 of his base salary is guaranteed instead of $14.15 million.
Paraag strikes again. Signing Armstead, where you can get him under $19 million against the cap for the next two years combined? Yeah, that’s a steal. By the time Armstead’s cap number is in the $20 million’s, the salary cap will have spiked with the new TV deals expected by 2022. I’m not sure if other teams are framing deals like this, but they should be. Armstead will cost around $38 million the next three years. Buckner will cost $56 million.