NFL News

NFL Contract Guarantees, Explained

Unlike in the NBA or MLB, players’ contracts in the NFL aren’t guaranteed by default. Typically, an NFL player will receive at least some guaranteed money when he signs a deal, but that money often comes in the form of contract bonuses, and in particular signing bonuses. While a player’s base salary, or P5 salary, will occasionally be guaranteed for a season or two, more often than not future seasons in that contract are fully non-guaranteed, allowing the team to escape the contract without much of a cap hit, particularly if the player’s bonus money was limited.

Take Anthony Hitchens, for example. The linebacker inked a five year, $45MM deal with Chiefs in 2018 with around $21MM in total guarantees. Rather than carrying him at a $12.6MM cap figure in 2022, the Chiefs released earlier this month, saving upwards of $8.4MM. At the time of signing, Hitchens was one of the highest paid inside linebackers in the game on a per-year basis. But, because of the way his deal…

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