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When Nigel Bradham’s five-year, $40 million contract was first reported on Wednesday, I thought it was a little curious how there was no mention of his guaranteed money.
That lack of information often indicates the guarantee isn’t as big as the original terms would make you think it is.
It appears that’s exactly the case in this situation.
Per source, Nigel Bradham's 5-year, $40M deal includes $14M guaranteed, including a $5M signing bonus, and Eagles have a team option on the final three years.
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) March 15, 2018
With the Eagles having a team option on Bradham’s final three years, this is essentially a two-year contract with an annual value of $7 million guaranteed.
In other words, the Eagles are not assuming a lot of risk in this contract. This is a team-friendly deal. If the 29-year-old linebacker’s production drops in a few years, it will not be financially difficult to move on from him.
But don’t just take it from me. Here’s what a salary cap expert from OverTheCap.com had to say:
Think that the Bradham deal for #Eagles is really smartly structured. Took care of LB market growth without really exposing themselves to anything
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) March 15, 2018
Havent had a good chance to really digest most of the contracts but the Bradham and Jets deal with Crowell are two ones that I definitely like
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) March 15, 2018
Howie Roseman and Jake Rosenberg have a reputation for negotiating great deals for the Eagles and this one is no exception.
Not only did the Eagles find a way to keep Bradham but they did it at a reasonable cost. Impressive.
Especially when you look around the league and see someone like Anthony Hitchens get $9 million per year with $21.3 million guaranteed.