The Details of Za'Darius Smith's Vikings Contract Are Extremely Noteworthy

Smith's three-year deal is extremely team-friendly in a variety of ways.

Two-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Vikings earlier this week, one that can be worth as much as $47 million.

Those numbers look good on the surface. But when you dive into the details of the deal, it's clear that the Vikings' front office — GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, cap guru Rob Brzezinski, and others — did a fantastic job making the contract a team-friendly one.

Here's a look at some of the numbers, as first reported by Pro Football Talk:

• Just $6.45 million is fully guaranteed.
• The guaranteed portion is a $5 million signing bonus and a $1.45 million base salary for 2022.
• Smith has $3 million in per-game roster bonuses every year. Divided by 17 games, that's $176,471 per game. He only earns those bonuses for each game he plays in. 
• There's a $50,000 workout bonus each year.
• Smith's 2023 base salary is $9.45 million, $5.05 million of which becomes guaranteed if he's on the roster on the third day of the 2023 league year.
• For 2024: $14.45 million base salary and $2.5 million roster bonus.
• 2022 sack incentives: $500K for 8.5 sacks, $750K for 10.5 sacks, $1 million for 12.5 sacks.
• 2023 sack incentives: $1.5 million for 8.5 sacks, $3 million for 10.5 sacks, $4 million for 12.5 sacks.

The structure of the contract works brilliantly for the Vikings. They can easily get out of it after one or two seasons if Smith struggles to stay healthy or produce at a high level. That protection is important because he's coming off a lost season due to a bulging disc in his back, something that poses a slight re-injury risk. If Smith plays well and becomes part of their long-term plans, they'll almost certainly extend him to bring the 2024 cap number down.

Meet at the Quarterback 2.0: Za'Darius Smith, Danielle Hunter Can Be an Elite Duo

Here's the crazy part: Smith's 2022 cap hit is just $3.34 million. That's his $1.45 million base salary, one third of his prorated $5 million signing bonus ($1.67 million), the $50K workout bonus, and 1/17th of his $3 million in per-game roster bonuses. Because Smith only played one game for the Packers last season, the other 16 roster bonuses are deemed Not Likely To Be Earned. If he plays all 17 games, those other 16 (worth $2.82 million) would hit the 2023 salary cap.

Any sack incentives Smith reaches this year are also obviously NLTBE since he had 0 sacks during the 2021 regular season, so they wouldn't affect this year's cap either.

Smith's cap hits can jump pretty high in 2023 and 2024 if he stays on the field and produces like he has in recent years. But that'll only mean the Vikings are paying around market rate or slightly below for an elite pass rusher. They can still easily move on or extend the contract down the line if they deem that necessary.

The big takeaway is this: Smith's cap hit being just $3.34 million this year means the Vikings still have plenty of room to keep adding. The exact details of Adam Thielen's restructured deal aren't public yet, but Minnesota is estimated to have around $16 million in cap space as of now.

Oh, and this is a fun fact for Vikings fans:

Za'Darius Smith will count $3.3M on the Minnesota Vikings salary cap in 2022 on his new 3-year contract

Za'Darius Smith will count $11.4M on the Green Bay Packers salary cap in 2022 while on the Vikings roster

Nearly 3.5 times more expensive for his former team than his new one

— Ken - Packers Cap (@KenIngalls) March 25, 2022

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