Veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer heads to San Francisco as, for now, the best option they have under contract. If he holds that spot and performs well, he will be paid accordingly.
Per a source with knowledge of the contract, it includes up to $1.5 million in 2017 incentives based on playing time, passing yards, passing touchdowns, and qualification for the Pro Bowl. For 2018, the deal has up to $5 million in incentives based on the same factors. That’s a total of $6.5 million in extra money that can be earned under the deal with a base value of $12 million over two years.
Hoyer receives a $4 million signing bonus, a fully-guaranteed base salary of $2.95 million for 2017, a $3.95 million base salary in 2018, $2.9 million of which is fully guaranteed. That’s $9.85 million in fully guaranteed cash at signing.
Hoyer has another $800,000 tied to per-game roster bonuses, which works out to $25,000 for each game that he is on the 46-man roster.
At a base rate of $6 million per year, Hoyer would be the lowest-paid starting quarterback on a veteran contract, if he wins the job. Even if he unlocks every penny of his incentives in 2017 and 2018, he’ll make $9.25 million per year on average.
That said, a Pro Bowl-type season for Hoyer in 2017 likely would result in the 31-year-old getting a new contract entering 2018.