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According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com Jonathan Cooper and the Arizona Cardinals have agreed to terms on a contract. The holdup in getting a deal completed seems to have been related to (what else) offset language. According to Mike Florio the contract will contain offsets and a compromise was reached by fast payout of his signing bonus money over the next few months.
As we had discussed yesterday, the likely structure of the contract would resemble that of most top draft picks. In this structure a player is given bonuses for reported to training camp and not holding out their services once camp begins. With that in mind it is probably safe to assume that Cooper’s contract will consist of the following:
Signing Bonus $8,961,092 (prorated at $2, 240,273 per year)
2013 Base Salary: $405,000
2014 Roster Bonus: $573,318 (payable 5th day of camp)
2014 Base Salary: $495,000
2015 Roster Bonus: $1,142,636 (payable 5th day of camp)
2015 Base Salary: $585,000
2016 Roster Bonus: $1,713,954 (payable 5th day of camp)
2016 Base Salary: $675,000
The contract will be fully guaranteed and he should carry cap charges of $2,645,273 (2013), $3,306,591 (2014), $3,967,909 (2015), and $4,629,227 (2016). With Cooper signed that leaves only Dee Milliner and Chance Warmack as the only unsigned drafted rookies.
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Jason is the founder of OTC and has been studying NFL contracts and the salary cap for over 15 years. Jason has co-authored two books about the NFL, Crunching Numbers and the Drafting Stage, which are widely circulated in the industry and hosts the OTC Podcast. Jason’s work has been featured in various publications including the Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, NFL Network and more. OTC is widely considered the leading authority on contract matters in the NFL.