I should have known the numbers were funny when it was McNabb’s agent that released them and not the Redskins.
While Daniel Synder has been known to overpaid, it was just unfathomable to give a 34 year old McNabb who had just been benched for Rex Grossman, 40 million dollars in guaranteed money.
Adam Schefter of ESPN breaks it down:
McNabb’s five-year extension is worth $70 million and can get to $78.5 million if he is on the active roster for every game in those five seasons. The deal’s maximum value is $88.5 million if McNabb leads his team to a Super Bowl victory every year.
One of the contract’s most significant points is a payment due this offseason, when the Redskins must decide whether or not to pay McNabb a $10 million option bonus. If they do, it would trigger the rest of the contract and make Washington liable for McNabb’s $2.5 million base salary in 2011.
So in essence, the Redskins paid McNabb $3.75 million in 2010 for the right to pay him $12.5 million in 2011 and control his rights. If the Redskins cut him after this season or trade him, they are only on the hook for the $3.75 million.
I am pretty confident that McNabb is not going to be leading the Redskins to the Super Bowl any time soon.
As Adam points out the Redskins have the rest of the season to determine if McNabb will be their quarterback going forward.
If he isn’t McNabb got an extra 3.75 million dollars for his services and will be an unrestricted free agent.
After last night game, unless a lot of things change it would be hard to justify paying McNabb 12.5 million in 2011, but there is still a lot of football to be played.
The point is the Redskins aren’t as stupid as we thought they were.