Some great sleuthing on the part of Joel Thorman over at the always essential Arrowhead Pride reveals the new contract details for perhaps the Kansas City Chiefs biggest get in free agency to this point in wide receiver Steve Breaston. The details were already out that he received a five-year deal worth up to $25 million, but Thorman got the scoop on the year to year take. He writes:
We’re told Breaston received $5 million to sign and a $700,000 base salary in 2011. His $1.8 million base salary in 2012 is guaranteed for injury only and he has a $1.3 million roster bonus in 2012. It appears the Chiefs could get out of this after one year and less than $6 million but I can’t envision a scenario with that happening.
In 2013, his base salary is $3.8 million, in 2014 it’s $3 million and in 2015 it’s $4.1 million. He has $200,000 workout bonuses from 2012-2015 and $1 million reporting bonuses in 2014 and 2015. He has another $500,000 in escalators available each year from 2012-2015.
Overall, that’s a nice contract for both sides. Obviously Breaston has to be happy with the money he received, but it’s good for the Chiefs at a couple of key points. First, it dips a bit in 2014, a, year that should bring a good increase in the salary cap due to renegotiated TV deals that expire that year. There’s a chance the cap will increase by a much higher percentage than normal that year, so this seems like Pioli is building in just a bit more wiggle room since he will have to spend at 89 percent of the cap that year anyway. Expect similar hiccups in other contracts the Chiefs sign players to.