Stallworth Contract Breakdown - Only 1 year deal?

[SWelker]

The deal, negotiated by agent Drew Rosenhaus, who concluded a frenetic week in free agency by constructing a contract that met the needs of all parties, can be as short as one year or as long as six seasons. But for the Patriots to retain Stallworth beyond the 2007 season, a year in which he will make $3.6 million in bonuses and salary, New England will have to make a significant investment.

Stallworth will receive an initial signing bonus of $1 million, a roster bonus of $1.6 million and a $300,000 workout bonus, to go along with his 2007 base salary of $700,000. That totals $3.6 million for the coming season.

It's after the 2007 season, however, when the really big money kicks in.

For the Patriots to retain Stallworth for the 2008 season, they must pay him an option bonus of $6 million by Feb. 25, 2008. There is a subsequent roster bonus of $2 million due on March 1, a second roster bonus of $1.6 million based on playing time, a base salary of $1 million and a $400,000 workout bonus. That totals an exorbitant $11 million for 2008, or a two-year total of $14.6 million.

To keep Stallworth for 2009, the Patriots would have to pay another option bonus, this one of $2 million, by Feb. 25 of that year. In terms of bonuses and base salary, the 2009 season would be worth $5 million to Stallworth, for a three-year total of $19.6 million.

The final three seasons of the contract all include workout bonuses of $500,000 each and base salaries of $4 million each. The maximum value of the contract, if the Patriots were to keep Stallworth for all six years, is $33.1 million.

The rationale behind the structure: Stallworth has the opportunity to register a huge season in 2007, playing with quarterback Tom Brady, and on a team that figures to be a Super Bowl contender. And after the 2007 campaign, the Patriots will have to dig deep to retain him, dramatically rework his contract, or allow him to go back into the free agent market. It was a creative concept developed by Rosenhaus, one accepted by several of the teams bidding for Stallworth, to maximize his client's earning potential. At the same time, it provides New England a big-play threat for at least one season, with the capacity to retain Stallworth beyond that, if desired.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2794615

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

looks like a good contract with both sides being covered.

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

Nice, we aren't in deep in it doesn't work out for some reason.

 

[ClevTrev]

If that report is accurate, I like this deal even more.

 

[patfanken]

That's good news, thanks for the info. Given the structure, I would think that if Stallworth DOES have a great year, they would have to go back and restructure the deal, not so much to lower the dollars given to Stallworth but to even out the cap consequences in the second year.

 

[Patriot Missile]

The deal, negotiated by agent Drew Rosenhaus, who concluded a frenetic week in free agency by constructing a contract that met the needs of all parties, can be as short as one year or as long as six seasons. But for the Patriots to retain Stallworth beyond the 2007 season, a year in which he will make $3.6 million in bonuses and salary, New England will have to make a significant investment.

Stallworth will receive an initial signing bonus of $1 million, a roster bonus of $1.6 million and a $300,000 workout bonus, to go along with his 2007 base salary of $700,000. That totals $3.6 million for the coming season.

It's after the 2007 season, however, when the really big money kicks in.

For the Patriots to retain Stallworth for the 2008 season, they must pay him an option bonus of $6 million by Feb. 25, 2008. There is a subsequent roster bonus of $2 million due on March 1, a second roster bonus of $1.6 million based on playing time, a base salary of $1 million and a $400,000 workout bonus. That totals an exorbitant $11 million for 2008, or a two-year total of $14.6 million.

To keep Stallworth for 2009, the Patriots would have to pay another option bonus, this one of $2 million, by Feb. 25 of that year. In terms of bonuses and base salary, the 2009 season would be worth $5 million to Stallworth, for a three-year total of $19.6 million.

The final three seasons of the contract all include workout bonuses of $500,000 each and base salaries of $4 million each. The maximum value of the contract, if the Patriots were to keep Stallworth for all six years, is $33.1 million.

The rationale behind the structure: Stallworth has the opportunity to register a huge season in 2007, playing with quarterback Tom Brady, and on a team that figures to be a Super Bowl contender. And after the 2007 campaign, the Patriots will have to dig deep to retain him, dramatically rework his contract, or allow him to go back into the free agent market. It was a creative concept developed by Rosenhaus, one accepted by several of the teams bidding for Stallworth, to maximize his client's earning potential. At the same time, it provides New England a big-play threat for at least one season, with the capacity to retain Stallworth beyond that, if desired.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2794615

Interesting read. Do both employer and employee have an option to back out?

 

[bradmahn]

Let's hope he stays here to at least see year two.

 

[patfanken]

duplicate, delete

 

[patchick]

Makes sense, but as for "creative" it looks a lot like other deals for high-risk, high-upside players...like Drew Brees last year.

 

[Ghost of Ben Dreith]

Now that is a deal I can get behind 100%. Fair to the player and the Pats. I feel great about this signing now versus very iffy before. I just hope he doesn't start whining and upsetting the apple cart because he isn't getting enough receptions. We all know how the Pats offense works.

 

[Fixit]

This makes it an outstanding signing.

 

[bradmahn]

Now that is a deal I can get behind 100%. Fair to the player and the Pats. I feel great about this signing now versus very iffy before. I just hope he doesn't start whining and upsetting the apple cart because he isn't getting enough receptions. We all know how the Pats offense works.

If he's getting open he'll get receptions. If he doesn't like not getting the ball, he should try harder and get open more. At least that's how I see it.

 

[mgteich]

As the contrtact stands, Stallworth should be considered a free agent in 2008. We will get the right to negotiate before free agency using pre-arranged numbers, but the bottom line is that Stallworth will have no incentive to sign before free agency since the patriot will have to come up with a $8M just to keep him from testing the waters. If he has a great year, he will want more. If he doesn't, the pats won't pay the exisitng contract.

A one-year deal is just what posters here wanted. This is a GREAT one-year deal.

There is another option for the pats. If we think he is worth $5M a year after 2007, we could keep him. It won't be terrible to have one player not having his bonuses spread out.

 

[dtbrks]

Good deal for the pats. If he has a great year next season and they want to retain him, it could get interesting. 11 million in cap hit is too much, so I they will want to restructure it. He may not though.

So, let's just enjoy the 07 season and see how it plays out.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

It was a creative concept developed by Rosenhaus, one accepted by several of the teams bidding for Stallworth, to maximize his client's earning potential. At the same time, it provides New England a big-play threat for at least one season, with the capacity to retain Stallworth beyond that, if desired.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2794615

Thanks for the detailed breakdown.

And, the deal does one other thing...it protects the Patriots if the substance abuse rumors/issues prove to be a problem. Why couldn't Rosenhaus have exercised the same kind of common sense influence on TO?

 

[Fixit]

As the contrtact stands, Stallworth should be considered a free agent in 2008. We will get the right to negotiate before free agency using pre-arranged numbers, but the bottom line is that Stallworth will have no incentive to sign before free agency since the patriot will have to come up with a $8M just to keep him from testing the waters. If he has a great year, he will want more. If he doesn't, the pats won't pay the exisitng contract.

A one-year deal is just what posters here wanted. This is a GREAT one-year deal.

One more year could be enough to let CJ develop into the threat we all hope he'll be.

 

[Fencer]

Bottom line:

A. Stallworth is here for a few million dollars for one year.
B. The Pats have an option to sign an expensive 5-year deal after that, with the terms already pre-negotiated.

And by the way:

C. Drafting a developmental WR is NOT out of the question. The only WRs who are at this point definitely staying past this season are Welker and Jackson.

 

[PatDaPatriot]

I like this deal. Low risk with a potentially high reward. It's up to him to make it worthwhile to keep him beyond the upcoming season. If he has a huge season, then he may be worth the bigger year 2 investment. If it doesn't work out, then they can walk away without a major hit...

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

Yup, I agree with what others have posted -- it's a good one-year deal with an expensive club option thereafter.

Given the terms of the deal, I guess I understand why it took so long, and for all our Rosenhaus bashing, he did put together a creative plan to address our concerns and also put his player in good position either to get his big payday next year or to go back on the market.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Gotta give kudos to Rosenhaus for this deal. He got all that bad pub for the Owens press conference a couple of years ago, but he proved he's more than a blowhard by crafting this deal.

I'd like to think that Stallworth will like winning SB's so much that he'll restructure for 2008.