Recent reports indicated that Dwight Freeney was willing to take the same base deal signed by Osi Umenyiora in Atlanta: Two years, $8.5 million.
Freeney ended up doing a little better. If $250,000 counts as “a little.”
Per a source with knowledge of the deal, Freeney’s two-year contract with the Chargers carries a base value of $8.75 million.
The deal pays $5.25 million in 2013, via a $3.25 million signing bonus, $1.5 million in guaranteed base salary, and a $500,000 roster bonus tied to Freeney’s presence on the weekly 46-man roster. (It works out to $31,250 per game.)
Freeney is due to earn $3.5 million in 2014, $500,000 of which is linked to weekly roster bonuses.
The contract carries a maximum value of $13.35 million, with $4.6 million tied exclusively to sacks. Though the targets aren’t currently known, we’re told that the numbers are realistic, based on his past production.