Should Myles Garrett Pioneer The Contract Structure Pat Mahomes Didn't?
Myles Garrett has an opportunity to revolutionize how the NFL handles top free agent contracts if he wants to take it.
It was great that Patrick Mahomes got his massive extension to stay with the Kansas City Chiefs, but it was disappointing to see the structure of the deal when it was reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports that the deal was going to a percentage of the salary cap.
An opportunity to change how contracts work in football was missed, even if only for the biggest stars in the league. Mahomes got a huge deal, but it's not likely to end up being worth ten years and $503 million. Myles Garrett, a premier defensive player in talks of a new contract with the Cleveland Browns, has an opportunity to dictate his own terms in how his contract is structured in the way Mahomes didn't - negotiating for a long term deal based on a percentage of the salary cap.
The Browns and Garrett want to get a deal done. Garrett is currently scheduled to make $9.676,627 in 2020 and $15.184 million 2021 per his fifth-year option. Maybe they reconfigure the option year, but the new money is really going to come into play in 2022.
Rather than go for a deal like Aaron Donald's, the best defender in the league, Garrett could opt for a percentage of the salary cap that scales upward every year as the cap grows naturally. The 2020 season, being impacted by COVID-19 could actually cause the 2021 salary cap to stay the same or even go down, but the new collective bargaining agreement could see it skyrocket in a typical years with fans in the stands.
Although 2021 could prove to be a major exception, the salary cap has increased around $10 to $12 million per year. Simply using the salary cap figure from 2020 of $198.2 million, if Garrett were to sign a contract for six years, getting ten percent of the league salary cap, he would end up with virtually the same haul as Donald, but in a deal that's structured more logically and is better for Garrett.
Aaron Donald Myles Garrett
2019 $17.108M 2022 $19.82M
2020 $25M 2023 $20.82M
2021 $27.892M 2024 $21.82M
2022 $22.25M 2025 $22.82M
2023 $19M 2026 $23.82M
2024 $21.75M 2027 $24.82M
Total $133M $133.92M
Assuming the salary cap is at the same amount it is now in 2022 and taking ten percent of the salary cap over six years, adding the lowest amount to the cap each year, Garrett would stand to earn slightly more than Donald. Yes, Donald's deal is slightly older so Garrett is supposed to get more.
If the cap goes up more than $10 million per year, Garrett's salary goes with it. He's always ensured to have an incredibly competitive contract. Further, Donald's contract has an opt out after 2021. The Rams could release Donald at a cap cost of just $8 million. The last three seasons only have roster bonuses of $5 million each season in terms of guaranteed dollars.
With the contract Garrett would be taking, there would be a date on the calendar, perhaps the same day the new salary cap is announced, where Garrett's cap figure would be calculated and become guaranteed. They would have to negotiate some kind of figure for what it would cost the Browns to release Garrett, whether that's a figure like $10 million or something like five percent of the salary cap.
Donald's camp may be attempting to negotiate a new deal in 2022 to ensure he gets guaranteed money. Garrett wouldn't have to do a thing.
The figures in so many of these contracts ranging from Donald to Mahomes are arbitrary. Garrett's would be based in paying him to the level he's worth as well as making it easy to budget the rest of the team years ahead of time.
If his agent, Bus Cook, is worried about a potential cap dip, they could simply negotiate that into the contract. If the salary cap dips below a certain figure, add a $2 or $3 million roster bonus as an example. That should only be a factor the first year, depending on the severity of COVID-19's impact on the NFL season.
Ultimately, the real negotiation is simply about the percentage of the cap Garrett would get. Ten percent made for a good example and it does fall in line with Donald's contract but it could be down to tenths or one hundredths of a percent.
Garrett is one of the best defensive players in football. He's arguably the top edge rusher and is just 24 years old. It's up to Garrett and the Browns if they want to roll with the same clunky structure that spits out numbers that don't really mean anything. One number to try to get the agent a win for other prospective clients and then a series of other numbers that could end up true depending on the outs included in the deal.
Another option is to take care of the best player on their team by giving him a percentage of the salary cap that grows as the league does and ensures he's always among the top paid players at his position as well as the league. It could be a trend within the team and potentially both Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward, who will be in the mix for extensions next year or it could become a model for the rest of the league.
It's just a thought.
