The details on Drew Brees new contract have made their way to PFT headquarters.
And they are spectacular.
Brees, per a source with knowledge of the deal, will receive a $37 million signing bonus and a $3 million base salary in 2012. The full signing bonus will be paid out within the next six months.
The $40 million paid in 2012 is fully guaranteed. For now, $20 million beyond 2012 is guaranteed for injury only. Next year, on the third day of the waiver period (typically, the third day after the Super Bowl), $15 million of the injury guarantee becomes fully guaranteed. The extra $5 million remains guaranteed for injury only.
In 2015, again on the third day of the waiver period, more than half of his $19 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed. Ditto for 2016; on the third day of the waiver period, more than half of the $20 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed.
The device in the last two years of the contract forces the Saints to cut him, if at all, sufficiently early in the offseason to give him a full chance to land elsewhere.
In all, he’ll receive $40 million this year, $10 million in 2013, $11 million in 2014, $19 million in 2015, and $20 million in 2016.
The new deal actually reduces Brees’ cap number dramatically, from $16.37 million to $10.4 million. Next year, his cap number will be $17.4 million. In 2014, the cap number will be $18.4 million. By 2015, when the new TV deals from 2014 hit the cap, Brees cap number will be $26.4 million. In the final year of the deal, the cap number becomes $27.4 million.
The structure makes it, in essence, a three-year, $61 million contract with a team option for year four (at $19 million) and year five (at $20 million).
If he keeps playing at a high level and stays healthy, he’ll potentially get it all. If not, he’ll be on the market before free agency begins, in 2015 or 2016.