One of the more contentious contract negotiations of the 2012 draft class has come to an end.
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Rams have agreed to terms on a four-year contract with second-round pick Janoris Jenkins. The deal is for about $5 million with $3.1 million guaranteed -- per Thomas, the highest percentage guaranteed to any second rounder -- to the cornerback whose off-field red flags helped make the process more difficult than it has been for most of this year’s rookies.
At different times during the process, the Rams and Jenkins battled over the team’s desire to have Jenkins work with a particular financial advisor and a proposed bonus structure that would split Jenkins’ signing bonus over four years to minimize risk to the Rams. Full financial details are forthcoming so we don’t yet know what, if any, protections the Rams and Jenkins agreed to include in the deal.
Jenkins was widely viewed as a first-round talent, but fell to the Rams with the 39th pick thanks to the combination of marijuana arrests in college and four children with three different women. That makes him a high-risk, high-reward player for St. Louis, who would love to see him grab the starting job opposite from Cortland Finnegan as soon as possible. That’s only possible if Jenkins is able to stay on the field and that’s a pretty big if based on Jenkins’ history.