Detroit Lions: Projecting a Contract Extension for Darius Slay
By Zac Snyder
Entering the final year of his contract, Darius Slay is a prime candidate for an extension. Here is a look how the Detroit Lions could make that happen.
The Detroit Lions and cornerback Darius Slay are reportedly mutually interested in working out a contract extension this offseason. With Slay under contract for one more year, there isn’t a great sense of urgency to do so until later in the offseason, but it figures to be something that gets done at some point between the draft and training camp.
What might a contract extension for Slay look like? It makes sense to look at the contract Janoris Jenkins got from the New York Giants during free agency this offseason to use as a framework.
From a contractual standpoint, Slay is very similar to Jenkins but one year later in the process. Jenkins hit free agency this offseason after originally being drafted by the Rams in the second round (39th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. Slay is set to enter 2016 on the final year of his rookie contract after being drafted by the Lions in the second round (36th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Here is the breakdown of the five-year, $62.5 million deal the Giants gave Jenkins:
If I’m Drew Rosenhaus representing Slay in negotiations with the Lions, I’m looking to surprass what Jenkins got. If I’m the Lions, I’m recognizing that Slay is better than Jenkins, but I’m not comfortable doing much more than the Jenkins baseline. For the purposes of this projection, let’s improve on Jenkins’ deal slightly for Slay and make it a five-year extension worth $60 million with $30 million guaranteed, $15 million of which is in the form of a signing bonus.
Looking at Jenkins’ numbers might lead some Lions fans to get some salary cap-induced heartburn. Years of being under salary cap pressure because of bloated contracts is a hard memory to shake but doing this extension with a year left on Slay’s rookie deal makes this easier to take. As a reminder here is a look at that deal.
Remember the days when the Lions did contract extensions early to kick the can down the road to free up salary cap space in the present? Extending Slay this offseason does the opposite, the benefits of which the Lions will reap down the line. Before discussing that more, here is a breakdown of a theoretical extension for Slay on a five-year, $60 million deal. Note that the $30 million guarantee is made up of the $15 million signing bonus and guaranteed salaries in 2017 and 2018.
Signing bonus money is paid up front but is accounted for against the salary cap over the life of the contract, up to a maximum of five years. That means a prorated bonus cap hit of $3 million per year from 2016-2020, increasing Slay’s 2016 cap hit from $1,682,960 to $4,682,960. With room under the salary cap for next season, the Lions can easily absorb that increase while still having Slay at a relative cap bargain.
While this projection gives Slay a little premium over Jenkins’ contract, the Lions won’t see cap hits that are routine in Jenkins’ deal until 2019.
By the time the final year of the contract arrives, the bonus proration will be water under the bridge so the Lions have all options open without leaving any dead money on the books if Slay is no longer in the plans. However, being out from under bonus proration increases the likelihood that whatever remains due to Slay in the form of salary and roster bonuses could make his cap hit a bargain on the back end.
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It remains to be seen how big the money on an extension will be or how the Lions will structure such a deal but this case is a great example of the compounding benefits of drafting well and extending your own.