Contract Proration Ratios

This table explores the balance between the two primary methods teams use to structure guaranteed money in non-rookie contracts: signing bonuses that are prorated over the length of the contract to a maximum of five years; and guaranteed base salaries that are not prorated but kept within a particular year. The contracts included are those agreed upon by each current general manager or top executive during his or her tenure with the team.

Teams with a higher proration ratio rely heavier on signing bonuses that offer more salary cap room in the present but contain the potential for higher dead money in the future. Teams with a lower proration ratio incur higher cap charges at the beginning of the contract but gain more flexibility to alter or terminate the contract in later years.

For this table, a top executive's tenure is considered to begin in the first year he or she is a top executive at the start of that respective league year. Those that have yet to achieve this will not show on this table until that moment occurs.

Proration Ratio League Average: -4.65

Proration Ratio League Median: 1.26

TeamTop ExecutiveTenureTotal GuaranteesSigning BonusesSalary GuaranteesProration Ratio
SeahawksJohn Schneider2010$281,916,367$257,537,580$24,378,78710.56
RamsLes Snead2012$239,609,758$209,318,095$30,291,6636.91
SteelersOmar Khan2022$159,566,614$127,973,088$31,593,5264.05
BengalsMike Brown1991$279,387,633$215,943,012$63,444,6213.40
RavensEric DeCosta2019$376,612,759$274,719,031$101,893,7282.70
TitansRan Carthon2023$34,652,500$23,982,500$10,670,0002.25
49ersJohn Lynch2017$429,805,908$296,855,429$132,950,4792.23
CommandersRon Rivera2020$323,542,019$223,284,732$100,257,2872.23
BrownsAndrew Berry2020$576,267,272$370,266,948$206,000,3241.80
BillsBrandon Beane2018$447,097,977$279,318,453$167,779,5241.66
ChargersTom Telesco2013$483,956,335$301,260,799$182,695,5361.65
CardinalsMonti Ossenfort2023$22,751,250$13,911,250$8,840,0001.57
PatriotsBill Belichick2000$287,471,930$168,599,288$118,872,6421.42
LionsBrad Holmes2021$219,850,993$128,229,032$91,621,9611.40
CowboysJerry Jones1994$339,254,330$196,853,236$142,401,0941.38
TexansNick Caserio2021$208,489,016$118,455,148$90,033,8681.32
BroncosGeorge Paton2021$412,709,205$229,797,478$182,911,7271.26
FalconsTerry Fontenot2021$324,844,223$178,278,860$146,565,3631.22
VikingsKwesi Adofo-Mensah2022$162,476,073$84,852,580$77,623,4931.09
PanthersScott Fitterer2021$264,439,503$137,450,156$126,989,3471.08
DolphinsChris Grier2019$479,388,660$242,671,800$236,716,8601.03
JaguarsTrent Baalke2022$261,396,754$131,110,050$130,286,7041.01
GiantsJoe Schoen2022$225,176,397$110,810,028$114,366,3690.97
SaintsMickey Loomis2001$400,905,855$194,361,032$206,544,8230.94
JetsJoe Douglas2020$390,424,972$178,846,684$211,578,2880.85
ColtsChris Ballard2017$294,468,747$123,375,676$171,093,0710.72
RaidersDave Ziegler2022$187,491,852$74,569,802$112,922,0500.66
BearsRyan Poles2022$163,480,213$64,205,704$99,274,5090.65
ChiefsBrett Veach2018$323,942,580$114,654,388$209,288,1920.55
BuccaneersJason Licht2014$301,484,148$49,681,752$251,802,3960.20
EaglesHowie Roseman2010$331,883,447$343,792,396($11,908,949)-28.87
PackersBrian Gutekunst2018$352,482,678$354,467,756($1,985,078)-178.57