The NFL players are currently locked out. They are fighting over various issues, but the one thing they aren’t fighting over are guarantee contracts.
It was reported that Brandon Marshall signed a $50 million contract over five years, with $24 million of it guaranteed when he signed with the Dolphins a few years ago. Sounds good right?
Too bad it isn’t. Profootballtalk breaks down how the Dolphins if they wanted to could rid themselves of Marshall and save a whole lot of money.
The contract actually was a one-year, $9.5 million deal with, as a practical matter, an option on the rest of the deal.
If the Dolphins choose to cut the cord, they’ll owe Marshall only $3 million in guaranteed salary, subject to an offset.
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If they choose to keep Marshall, he’s owed a $3 million option bonus and guaranteed base salaries of $6.5 million in 2011 and $6 million in 2012.
So, basically, $15.5 million is riding on the team’s decision as to whether it makes sense to bring him back. Based on what they learn after investigating the altercation that resulted in Marshall being stabbed in the stomach by his wife, the Dolphins could decide not to take the risk.
The NFL is the most dangerous sport with the shortest life span, but for practical purposes it is the only league that doesn’t fully guarantee contracts.
That is something to strike over.
As far as Marshall when he is on the field, he is one of the better receivers in the NFL—but is he worth the risk considering the various issues he seems to have off the field?
We shall see.