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The Cincinnati Bengals have made A.J. Green one of the highest-paid wide receivers in football after signing him to a four-year, $60-million extension on Friday.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk was the first to get the full details of the contract. Here's a look at the deal in chart-form from Spotrac:
YEAR |
AGE |
BASE SALARY |
SIGNING BONUS |
ROSTER BONUS |
WORKOUT BONUS |
CAP HIT |
DEAD CAP |
2015 |
27 |
$11,750,000 |
$3,000,000 |
- |
- |
$14,750,000 |
$26,750,000 |
2016 |
28 |
$3,800,000 |
$3,000,000 |
$6,000,000 |
$200,000 |
$13,000,000 |
$12,000,000 |
2017 |
29 |
$10,300,000 |
$3,000,000 |
- |
$200,000 |
$13,500,000 |
$9,000,000 |
2018 |
30 |
$10,550,000 |
$3,000,000 |
- |
$200,000 |
$13,750,000 |
$6,000,000 |
2019 |
31 |
$11,976,000 |
$3,000,000 |
- |
$200,000 |
$15,176,000 |
$3,000,000 |
As Florio notes, Green receives a $15 million roster bonus this season with all money paid out by January 31, 2016. Green's base salary is $11.75 million in 2015 and he will have earned $32.75 million by March of 2016.
It took a lot of work to get done after both parties had agreed to the overall value of the deal, but could not agree as to how much guaranteed money and how big the first year of the deal should be. Thankfully, both sides were able to come to an understanding before the 2015 season opens Sunday at Oakland against the Raiders.
As for the actual contract, those four years and $60 million were added on to Green's fifth-year option and $10-million that he's getting in 2015. That means the deal is actually a five-year, $70-million deal. That's similar to the deals Dez Bryant (five years, $70 million, $45 million guaranteed) and Demaryius Thomas (five years, $70 million with $43.75 million guaranteed) signed before the July 15 deadline to extend franchised players.
Once those two got new deals with their respective clubs, talks then heated up between the Bengals and Green's agent Ben Dogra. For two months, the sides battled on what the deal would ultimately be, and it turned out to be a deal that seems fair for both sides, given what the market for a franchise receiver has become.
Oh, and Green is filthy rich now... Even if he tells you he's, "the same old A.J. just got a little bit more money."