If you need any further evidence to persuade Junior to kick a football instead of run with it, we give you the contract extension recently given by the Bills to running back Fred Jackson.
Jackson will receive only $3 million guaranteed, which comes in the ultimate form of NFL guaranteed money: the signing bonus.
Other than that, not a single penny is guaranteed.
Jackson also gets a $100,000 roster bonus on the fifth day of the league year (which he may have already received), along with a $100,00 workout bonus. And he’s due to earn a base salary of $2.205 million in 2012. He’ll get an extra $100,000 if he makes it to the Pro Bowl.
Next year, Jackson is due to receive a base salary of $2.15 million, along with a roster bonus of $300,000 on the fifth day of the league year. He’s also eligible for up to $150,000 in per-game roster bonuses, calculated based on $9,375 per game that he is on the active roster. There’s another $100,000 workout bonus, and another $1.1 million in incentives based on rushing yards, receiving yards, Pro Bowl, playing time, rushing touchdowns, and playoffs.
In 2014, Jackson is due to earn a base salary of $2.45 million. He’s due to receive per-game roster bonuses with a maximum value for the season of $150,000, $1.1 million in incentives based on the same factors, and a $100,000 workout bonus.
The deal may seem light, but not in light of the fact that Jackson is 31. More importantly, the market for veteran running backs is softer than an tangerine that has been sitting on the dashboard of a Ford Focus in the South Florida midday sun. Or something.
Either way, plenty of veteran kickers and punters are doing better than plenty of veteran running backs. Jackson got the best deal he could under the circumstances, and that’s good news for him and the Bills.