FanPost

Saints need to get creative


I was thinking the other day of a way the Saints could sign Drew for a lower cap value and make him very happy. The Saints need to get creative and sign a seven or eight year deal with a large upfront signing bonus that could be spread over the length of the contract and with large roster bonuses strategically placed to pay him and protect the team. I was looking at maybe a seven year deal with a 42 million dollar signing bonus. This would be a 6 million cap figure over the length of the contract.

Here's the structure I was thinking:

1st year 6 million guaranteed money with another 1 million in incentive bonuses, like 2000 passing yards, 10 touchdown passes and less than 20 interceptions. This would be a cap figure of 12 million, but would put 49 million in his pocket this season.

2nd year 8 million guaranteed money with another 2 million in incentive bonuses, this would be 15 million against the cap and would raise the contract value to 59 million for the first two years.

3rd year 10 million guaranteed with 1 million in incentives. This would be 17 million against the cap and would raise the contract value to 70 million for the first 3 years.

4th year 11 million guaranteed with 1 million in incentives. This would have an 18 million cap value and bring the real value of the first four years to 82 million. A 9 million roster bonus is added, similar to the one Peyton is facing now. If you want to keep him you five him the 9, if not you keep the 9 mil and go another direction, Drew will be 37 at this point. This like the signing bonus would be spread over the remainder of the contract. The real value is 91 mil over 4 years.

5th year 14 million guaranteed with 1 million incentives. This would have a 24 million cap value and bring the real value to 106 million for 5 years.

6th year 16 million guaranteed with 1 million incentives. This would have a 26 million cap value and brings the real value to 123 million for 5 years.

7th year 18 million guaranteed with 1 million incentives. This would have a 28 million cap value and bring the total contract value to 142 for 7 years.

This would be a cap friendly deal that would make Drew the highest paid player in the NFL. It would also give the Saints an extra 8 million this season to sign other players. Enough to pay say Carl Nicks and Robert Meachem.

This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.

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