Maybin deal lacks an unreachable "superstar" package

On Sunday, we pointed out the possibility that the contract signed by Bills defensive end Aaron Maybin on Friday — touted widely as a five-year deal with a maximum payout of $25 million — might have some terms that will make receipt of the full amount impossible to achieve.

We pointed specifically to the 2008 contract of Chiefs defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey, whose contract as the fifth overall pick ties $10 million (technically, it’s $12 million) in escalators and incentives to being named the Super Bowl MVP not one or twice but four times.  (The contracts of Raiders running back Darren McFadden, the fourth overall pick, and Saints defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, the seventh overall pick, also contain incentives premised on winning the Super Bowl MVP award.  The only other 2008 draft pick with such a term is Bucs quarterback Josh Johnson, a fifth-rounder who has a paltry $17,000 incentive tied in part to being named Super Bowl MVP.)

As it turns out, only $2.3 million of Maybin’s incentives and escalators objectively could be characterized as difficult to achieve, requiring multiple Pro Bowl appearances and specific sack totals.  Another $2.75 million is tied to a playing-time formula ranging from 60 percent to 70 percent of the defensive snaps, and $1.9 million hinges on a not-impossible formula of one Pro Bowl appearance and 30 total sacks in three seasons. 

It won’t be easy to cash in on the full amount, but it won’t border on the impossible, like the Dorsey and Ellis deals from a year ago. 

Then again, Dorsey and Ellis have a better chance of being hit by lightning — while riding in a submarine at 1,000 feet under the surface of the ocean — than they do of earning the full amount of their “superstar packages.”