PatsSteve1 said:If I were Seymour I'd expect big bucks, too. Big double digit bonus, mayeb they can split that, and nice, escalating salaries. I figure it's 50-50 the Pats resign him. The sooner the better though. If he hits FA somebody is going to go overboard.
The thing to do might be a split-bonus deal, yeah; something similarly structured to my suggested contract in the first three years ($20m up front, salaries of $3/4/4) with a year-three team option bonus (maybe $12m?) to trigger five more years at salaries of $6m a piece with two years at, say $7m, $11m being the result of the team not taking up the option (the last'd be fictional, obviously).
That works out as either theoretically $48m/5 years (in practice $37m/4 years with a $4m cap charge in year five, so only $33m chargeable in the first four years - $8.25m a season) or a stated headline of eight years, $72m ($9m a season) - $32m of that in bonuses.