Key Details of the Vikings' Byron Murphy, Josh Oliver, Marcus Davenport Contracts

The Vikings structured these deals to have lower cap hits in 2023.

NFL contracts are always more complicated and nuanced than they may appear at first glance.

For example, let's look at the Vikings' three biggest free agent signings of the offseason, thus far: TE Josh Oliver, OLB Marcus Davenport, and CB Byron Murphy. This is what the deals were initially reported as:

• Oliver: 3 years, $21 million ($7M AAV)
• Davenport: 1 year, $13 million
• Murphy: 2 years, $22 million ($11M AAV)

Add up the average annual value (AAV) on each deal and you get $31 million. And yet, those three players will combine for a cap hit of less than $13.5 million in 2023.

How is that possible? It's all in the details, which the Star Tribune's Ben Goessling has been reporting on Twitter.

Oliver's deal comes with $10.7 million guaranteed. It's back-loaded, with a base salary of $1.08 million in 2023, $4.7 million in 2024, and $7.95 million in 2025. He also has a $7.12 million signing bonus that is spread out evenly over the three-year contract. Thus, his cap hit is only $3.5 million in 2023. It goes up to $7.12 million in 2024 and $10.37 million in 2025, but he's not going to play that 2025 season on this current deal. Two offseasons from now, he can be released for $8 million in cap savings with just $2.37 million in dead money.

What you need to know is that Oliver has a reasonable cap hit this season ($3.5 million) and that his deal is functionally for two years and $13 million, not three years and $21M.

Davenport's contract is an even more interesting one. It's a one-year deal that includes four void years added on, meaning only a fifth of his $8.5 million signing bonus ($1.7 million) will hit the cap this year. In addition to that signing bonus, he has a $1.5 million base salary, a $1 million workout bonus, and $2 million in per-game roster bonuses, for a total cap hit of $5.9 million. There's $6.8 million in prorated signing bonus that would become dead money next year if he's gone after one season, but the deal is structured so that Davenport is an obvious extension candidate next offseason if he plays well.

That's how a "one-year, $13 million" deal has a cap hit of less than $6 million this year.

Lastly, Murphy's contract isn't exactly what it seems, either. It's actually a two-year deal worth $17.5 million, not $22 million as initially reported. He has a $7 million signing bonus, spread out over two years. Murphy's base salary is just $1.1 million in 2023, although it goes up to $8.3 million in 2024, with $4.5 million fully guaranteed for injury and the full salary becoming guaranteed on the third day of next year's league year. Murphy also has up to $2 million in incentives for earning Pro Bowl or All-Pro honors each year.

Murphy's cap hit this year? Just $4.9 million. It's $12.35 million in 2024, but the Vikings will have the option to release or extend Murphy next offseason if they want.

With NFL contracts, it's all about the specifics. Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has structured these deals to be affordable in 2023 and give the team flexibility moving forward.

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