Chances are that 49ers left tackle Joe Staley won’t be happy with his new contract, eventually.
He has signed on an ultra-long-term deal, which has an average value of less than $5 million per year. If he continues to perform, it won’t be long before his contract pales in comparison to deals paid to other offensive linemen.
“Any of that is way too far down the line to ever think about,” Staley said, according to Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. “I think it’s a fair value for myself, and I look forward to playing football.”
A day after Staley signed a six-year extension to a contract that had three years remaining, the deal already looks less fair than previously reported.
Maiocco reports that the deal contains only $40 million (not $42 million) in new money. If that’s accurate, Staley’s nine-year take will be $41.66 million, which equates to an average of $4.62 million.
Maiocco also reports that the guaranteed amount is only $16 million.
As to the potential for Staley to become disgruntled in a few years after others at the tackle (and guard) position sign contracts with a much higher annual average, Maiocco says only that he assumes the 49ers have accounted for this possibility.
“It can reasonably be assumed that the 49ers took measures to avoid that kind of potential future discontent with Staley,” Maiocco writes.
We like and respect Maiocco, but why can it reasonably be assumed that the 49ers didn’t do precisely what the Eagles have done for much of the past decade? The numbers are what they are, and they aren’t going to get any better as time passes.
Maiocco points to the fact that much of the bonus money is deferred, which helps to prevent the problem of a player forgetting about that huge bonus he received five years after the fact. But it’s actually better for the player to get his money now, and not to have it paid out in the future, given the time value of money.
So regardless of when the money is paid to Staley, that $4.62 million average will linger, and Staley eventually will feel that he’s languishing behind many inferior players.