Several weeks ago, the Jets gave left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson a contract that contained no injury guarantees.
Today, the Jets finalized a contract with center Nick Mangold that includes, per a league source, $22.5 million in money that is fully guaranteed for injury.
Mangold’s contract isn’t currently guaranteed for skill, meaning that the Jets can cut him after the 2010 season if coach Rex Ryan no longer believes that Mangold is the best center in the league. Each season, however, skill guarantees will apply after a specific date on the league-year calendar. It’s a common device used by teams who hope to avoid the obligation of fully funding the guaranteed money by placing it in escrow at the time the contract is signed.
With Ferguson, a similar approach was used for the skill guarantees, even though he has no injury guarantees -- other than the guarantees provided by a disability policy. As one league source recently remarked, “Maybe Ferguson’s agent sells insurance on the side.”
We’ll try to get our hands on the Mangold contract so that we can break down all the nuances of the deal. For those of you who care. For the other 99.984 percent of the audience, we’ll move on to the next story.