Inside the Bobby Wagner deal

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Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner officially signed his contract on Monday. The details of the deal officially have arrived at PFT headquarters.

Reported as a five-year, $50 million deal, the contract pays out $6.5 million in 2022, with another $3.5 million guaranteed in 2023.

Here are the full details:

1. Signing bonus: $5 million.

2. 2022 base salary: $1.5 million, fully guaranteed.

3. 2023 90-man roster bonus: $3.5 million, fully guaranteed as of April 8, 2022.

4. 2023 base salary: $7.5 million.

5. 2024 90-man roster bonus: $2.5 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed as of the fifth day of the 2023 league year.

6. 2024 base salary: $8.5 million.

7. 2025 90-man roster bonus: $2.5 million.

8. 2025 base salary: $8 million.

9. 2025 90-man roster bonus: $2.5 million.

10. 2026 base salary: $8.5 million.

The deal also includes three incentive packages, each with creative names. The Agent Wagz Wally’s Wage Incentive pays out up to $2 million per year based on playing time and team achievements. To get the full amount, Wagner needs to participate in 90 percent or more of the defensive snaps, the Rams must make the playoffs, and the final defensive rankings in net points allowed, net yards allowed, and net passing yards allowed per passing play must be better than the fifth worst in the league.

The Wage Wagz’s Colony Coin Incentive pays out $1 million per year if he’s a first-time All Pro. Alternatively, if he makes it to the Pro Bowl (original ballot) and the team improves its defensive ranking in total net yards allowed, or net yards allowed per passing play, Wagner gets $500,000.

Finally, the Agent Wagz Archibald Ranch Au Revoir Void gives the player the right to pull the plug on the final three years of the deal if in 2022 and 2023 he plays in 90 percent of more of the defensive plays and the team makes it to the postseason each year. Alternatively, he can void the final three years of the contract if he makes it to the Pro Bowl (in the original ballot) in 2022 and 2023.

The void likely won’t be necessary. As a practical matter, the Rams have signed Wagner to a year-to-year deal that can be worth as little as $10 million for one year; although the deal contains offset language as to certain specific guarantees in the deal, the $3.5 million roster bonus for 2023 does not include offset language.

17 responses to “Inside the Bobby Wagner deal

  1. Come on Bobby!!!! Even Jerry Jones cheap self could have done better. Anyway, Bobby you can go ahead and carry this L for agreeing to such a contract language

  2. This is seemingly a worse base deal than he would have gotten with the Seahawk’s. It’s better on the top end potential, meaning Bobby is banking on himself to produce. As Father Time was already showing the last two seasons, Bobby has lots of drive/heart, but fading……this will end up being a one year deal.

  3. Once you’re financially set for life, happiness becomes more important. Quality of life. There’s nothing more fun than winning a super bowl. Whatever money he could have or would might have made somewhere else will never be spent by him anyway. A super bowl ring is priceless

  4. I think writing the contract in this manner is in the best interest of the team because it ties the payout to team success.

    If ever player had a stipulation for a bonus if the team makes the playoffs, how much harder would they work together to dominate their side of the ball?

  5. And why couldn’t or wouldn’t the Raiders nail that deal? He’s better than any LB that is currently on the team!

  6. OK big question here is what happens to the Rams if all of part of these incentives kick in and it puts the Rams over the cap for the season? And please explain what the ramifications for the Rams are? No pun intended!

  7. “Rams are buying talent.”

    Considering there’s a salary cap, what is it other teams are doing with their money?

  8. The Rams have tasted success and are determined to feed off of it and continue it. They are really aggressive which is interesting if nothing else.

  9. Kinda what everybody expected, essentially a 2 year deal. If he keeps digressing the way he has the past 3 years, he may not even make it to the 2nd year. One of the best to ever play the position, but father time is undefeated.

  10. Its roughly
    year one ~10 mill
    year two ~11 mill
    year three and four ~12 mill each

    They are happy with his productivity they could easily go 4 years and if they arent its pretty release any year along the way.

  11. Did someone say the Rams don’t develop talent from within? Aaron Donald, Greg Gaines, Ernest Jones, Jordan Fuller, Taylor Rapp, Cam Akers, Darrell Henderson, Tyler Higbee, Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson, Ben Skowronek, David Edwards, Rob Havenstein, Brian Allen, Joseph Noteboom, Nick Scott, and David Long beg to disagree, as do the recently departed Johnny Hekker, Sebastian Joseph Day, Darious Williams, Obo Okoronkow,Samson Ebukan, John Johnson, and Gerald Everett. Actually, it almost seems like the RAMS are the ones developing the talent for other teams.

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