Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said Tuesday that he expects newly signed safety LaRon Landry to be healthy during the 2012 season.
He might expect it, but he’s protecting the team against the possibility that things don’t work out that way. Jenny Vrentas of the Newark Star-Ledger has the details of the one-year, $3.5 million deal that Landry signed with the Jets and it has a weekly roster bonus that makes half of the total salary contingent on Landry being in the lineup.
Landry, who has missed 15 games in the last two seasons and disagreed with the Redskins about whether or not his Achilles injury required surgery before leaving the team, will make $700,000 in base salary along with $1.5 million in signing and workout bonuses. The rest of his money will come in the form of a weekly roster bonus of $109,375 that will only be paid if Landry is healthy enough to suit up for the games.
The clause is a nice bit of risk management by the Jets, but they’d surely be happier having paid $3.5 million when the year is over. They got poor play from their safeties for much of last season and a good, healthy year from Landry would provide a big boost to the unit this time around.
We already thought of the one-year deal as a prove it deal for Landry, but this clause makes it even more incumbent on the safety to show that he can stay healthy for an entire season.