On Friday, agent Mark Bloom made the media rounds, trumpeting a three-year extension that had been signed by cornerback Jabari Greer, and adroitly describing the new contract as being worth $23 million.
A casual glance at the reports created the impression that Greer will get $7.6 million per year on the three-year deal. The truth, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, is that Greer’s new contract carries $15.6 million in new money.
Greer already was due to earn a base salary of $5.4 million in 2012. That’s a four-year total of $21 million. The other $2 million likely comes from incentives or other payments that may or may not realistically be earned.
It’s yet another example of the unreliability of the initial reports as to the value of a contract. And the truth is that, if/when reporters start demanding the truth in connection with the initial report of the deal, the sources who hope to put the biggest numbers in the public eye will simply move on to another reporter who gladly will apply a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach as to the question of whether the numbers have been inflated to make the agent or the player look better.