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A couple things to get into about this contract:
On Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers signed linebacker Fred Warner to a five-year extension worth $95 million.
This was described in some reports as a “record-setting deal” because it reportedly made Warner the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history.
But did it really?
Yes, it’s the highest average for an inside linebacker in NFL history, at $19 million-a-year.
But you could make a strong argument the only thing that really matters in NFL contracts is the guaranteed money, and Warner got $40.5 million.
The Jets gave C.J. Mosley $51 million in guaranteed in 2019, so that was actually a better ILB contract.
Yes, Mosley’s average of $17 million is lower than Warner, since the entire Mosley contract was a five-year deal for $85 million, but once again, it’s the guaranteed money that matters most.
The fact that Warner got a deal with $40.5 million guaranteed in 2021, and Mosley got a contract with $51 million guaranteed in 2019, shows you what a dubious contract the Jets’ former regime gave out.
There is an evoluationary element to contracts. Once somebody sets a new high water mark at a position, usually a star player at that position, will top that deal.
But that 2019 deal was so out of whack with the position, the market was re-set, and now TWO years later, Warner got $40.5 million guaranteed. The Jets’ former regime was so desperate to land Mosley, they drastically overpaid for that position. Most teams would never consider paying an ILB that kind of money.
Mosley is a good player, who should help the Jets this year, but the Warner contract shows you how bizarre his deal was in 2019.
Joe Douglas has shown he’s not going to give out reckless contracts like that one. Yes, he will pay players, but not bribe them to come to the Jets. It’s pretty obvious that Mosley wanted to return to Baltimore, and the Ravens offered him a nice deal (reportedly around $13 million-a-year), but the Jets offer was so far and above, for the sake of his family, he couldn’t turn it down.
The days of the Jets writing contracts like drunken sailors is over.
But with that being said, Warner’s deal is illustrative of the kind of meritocracy the Jets are looking to set up.
They want to draft, develop and re-sign, and that is what the 49ers did with Warner, who was picked in the 2018 third round, and turned into one of the NFL’s best inside linebackers.
Douglas and Saleh will have no issue paying very good money to players they draft, who come in, and work their tails off, and become terrific players, like Warner (who is very close with Saleh, by the way).
Warner trajectory in the NFL is exactly what you are looking for – the player does a great job on his rookie contract, and then is rewarded in the all-important second deal.
But Warner deal was an example of one that is good for the team and player. Forget about the $95 million stuff. That is agent-speak. It’s probably best called a two year deal for $40.5 million.
And those are the kind of deals we know Douglas loves, like the ccontract Carl Lawson got, which is a essentially a two-year deal for $35 million.
July 21, 2021
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