Colts quarterback Andrew Luck would have made $16.155 million in 2016, the last year of his rookie deal. He traded it in for a six-year, $140 million contract.
But those broad numbers never tell the whole story, unless and until a contract like that is fully guaranteed. PFT has obtained a copy of the Luck’s entire contract, and here’s the breakdown:
1. Signing bonus of $32 million, with $18 million paid in the next 10 days and the remaining $14 million paid on March 31, 2017;
2. Base salary of $12 million in 2016, fully guaranteed at signing;
3. $3 million roster bonus earned on the fifth day of the 2017 league year and paid on March 20, 2017, which is guaranteed for skill and injury, and conditionally guaranteed for salary cap (but as a practical matter fully guaranteed);
4. $3 million roster bonus earned on the fifth day of the 2017 league year and paid on September 18, 2017, which is guaranteed for injury only at signing;
5. $7 million base salary for 2017, guaranteed for injury only at signing and fully guaranteed as of the fifth day of the 2017 league year;
6. $3 million roster bonus earned on the fifth day of the 2018 league year and paid on March 20, 2018, which is guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed as of the fifth day of the 2017 league year;
7. $3 million roster bonus earned on the fifth day of the 2018 league year and paid on September 18, 2018, which is guaranteed for injury only at signing;
8. $12 million base salary for 2018, which is guaranteed for injury only at signing but which becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2018 league year;
9. $6 million roster bonus earned on the fifth day of the 2019 league year and paid on March 18, 2019, which is guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed as of the fifth day of the 2018 league year;
10. $6 million roster bonus earned on the fifth day of the 2019 league year and paid on September 17, 2019, which is guaranteed for injury at signing;
11. $9.125 million base salary for 2019, non-guaranteed;
12. $11 million roster bonus due on the third day of the 2020 league year, with half paid on September 15, 2020 and the other half paid on December 15, 2020;
13. $11 million base salary for 2020, non-guaranteed;
14. $10 million roster bonus due on the fifth day of the 2021 league year, with half paid on September 14, 2021 and the other half paid on December 14, 2020; and
15. $11 million base salary for 2021, non-guaranteed.
That’s a total of six years, $139.125 million, with $44 million fully guaranteed at signing (as a practical matter, it’s $47 million; technically, it’s $44 million at signing). Another $16 million becomes fully guaranteed, as a practical matter, as of the fifth day of the 2017 league year.
At signing, $87 million is guaranteed for injury.
The cash flow breaks down like this: $44 million in 2017; $57 million through 2018; $75 million through 2018; $96.125 million through 2019; $118.125 million through 2020; $139.125 million through 2021.
It’s an average value of $23.1875 million per year, with $24.594 million per year in so-called “new money.”
The cap numbers are: (1) $18.4 million in 2016; (2) $19.4 million in 2017; (3) $24.4 million in 2018; (4) $27.525 million in 2019; (5) $28.4 million in 2020; and (6) $21 million in 2021.