If it’s truly not about the money, it’s not about a whole lot of money.
Per a league source, Vikings quarterback Brett Favre got his new contract on Monday. He received a signing bonus of $4.4 million, and he reduced his base salary from $13 million to $11.6 million.
The salary is fully guaranteed for injury only, which makes no sense because, as a practical matter, his salary for the current year already is fully guaranteed for injury -- as is the salary of every player, with the exception of those who agree to a “split” contract.
Favre also is eligible to earn $4 million in incentives, which allows him to make up to $20 million in 2010.
For the conspiracy theorists out there (actually, I have a feeling that everyone is secretly a conspiracy theorist, and that they act like they aren’t conspiracy theorists just to mess with the conspiracy theorists who don’t realize that everyone is secretly a conspiracy theorist), it’s interesting to note that Favre’s new deal was finalized the day before word emerged that receiver Sidney Rice underwent surgery that will knock him out of action for two months. If Favre knew he’d be without Rice for at least two months, would he have wanted to push some of the money tied to incentives based on team accomplishments toward his base salary?
If it’s not about the money, no. If it’s about the money in any degree, then hell yes.
And so Favre will earn $16 million at a minimum in 2010, with up to $4 million more available. And he already has been paid $4 million this year in deferred 2009 salary. And he’ll get another $4 million next year in deferred 2009 salary.
It’s a good thing it’s not about the money. We’d hate to see how much he’d be making if it were about the money.