Apparently exasperated by the contractual demands of defensive end Dwight Freeney, the Broncos opted over the weekend to go in a different direction. That direction took them to veteran linebacker Shaun Phillips, a former Charger who’ll become a defensive end in Denver’s 4-3 defense.
And it won’t cost much. Per a source with knowledge of the contract, Phillips will receive a non-guaranteed base salary of $1 million, with no signing bonus or any other bonus payment.
He also can earn $2 million in incentives, $400,000 of which are “likely to be earned” (and thus count toward the 2013 salary cap) and $1.6 million of which are “not likely to earned” (and will hit the cap in 2014 only if earned in 2013). Both incentives are tied to sacks.
The absence of guaranteed money means that the Broncos could, in theory, cut Phillips at any point up to Week One and owe him nothing, other than his training camp per diem. Which means that the Broncos could still sign Freeney, whose expectations are getting more reasonable with each passing day.