Brian Allee-Walsh of NewOrleans.com has all the nitty gritty details about the contracts signed by RB Pierre Thomas, K Garrett Hartley and DT Shaun Rogers; information we rarely get to know.
Now we know how Garrett Hartley could afford that huge rock he just proposed to his girlfriend with:
-- A $2.526 million signing bonus.
-- Annual base salaries of $558,000, $650,000, $734,000, $822,000 and $910,000 from 2011 through 2015.
-- Attainable performance escalators of $6.6 million brings the total package to $12.8 million.
We also know how much Pierre Thomas finally got paid, deservedly so:
Thomas' contract totals $11,031,250 and calls for:
-- Numerous roster bonuses worth $2,731,250 during the first year of the contract in 2011.
-- Annual base salaries of $640,000 (guaranteed), $2.16 million (guaranteed), $2.1 million and $2.5 million from 2011 through 2014. He also is due a $100,000 workout bonus in 2012, and $300,000 roster bonuses and $100,000 workout bonuses each in 2013 and '14.
And Shaun Rogers has 630,000 reasons to skip the In-and-Out Burger on west coast road trips:
-- A 2.5 million base salary in 2011 of which $1 million is guaranteed.
-- A $500,000 signing bonus.
-- Numerous roster bonuses worth $370,000.
-- A $630,000 weight bonus which calls for him to keep his playing weight at a maximum of 350 pounds throughout the season. He weighed around 375 at the time of his signing, according to team sources.