Examining Jason Campbell's contract with Bengals

When the Bengals signed Jason Campbell to be the backup quarterback and mentor to Andy Dalton, it was assumed he signed the deal with assurance of a roster spot on the opening day 53-man roster.

Coley Harvey of ESPN broke down the contract of Campbell, and less than half of his contract's max value is guaranteed:

According to Campbell's contract details obtained by ESPN Stats & Information, the signal-caller will be making $400,000 of guaranteed money this year. That's slightly down from the $500,000 of guaranteed cash he agreed to last season when he played in nine games with the Browns. Much like his overall salary from Cleveland, Campbell this season will boast a cap value in Cincinnati of $1.5 million. 

It's for that reason that you probably shouldn't be surprised if the Bengals still end up drafting a quarterback in May, even after signing Campbell to the one-year deal.

Here are the full details of Campbell's contract:

Cap value: $1,500,000 
Cash value: $1,500,000 
Signing bonus: $400,000 
Roster bonus: $0 
Workout bonus: $100,000 
Base salary: $1,000,000 
Guaranteed money: $400,000

Assuming Campbell goes through all of the offseason workouts, he'll make $500,000 before the regular season opener. That's chump change for an NFL team with $132 million of cap to work with, so it looks as though Campbell isn't guaranteed to have a roster spot this year.