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As reported last Friday evening by the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Patriots inked veteran edge defender Adrian Clayborn to a two-year free agent contract.
On Tuesday morning, more context was provided as details of Clayborn’s deal were made public. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the two-year agreement has a base value of $10 million.
DE Adrian Clayborn's two-year contract with the Patriots is worth a base value of $10 million. He gets a $4 million signing bonus and has a $1.5 million base salary in 2018, and a $3.5 million base salary in 2019. In each year, Clayborn can earn... https://t.co/HCfM0pcA9r
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) March 20, 2018
The breakdown:
2018
Salary: $1,500,000
Signing bonus proration: $2,000,000
Per-game roster bonuses: $500,000 (All 16 games “likely to be earned”)
2018 Cap Figure: $4,000,000
2019
Salary: $3,500,000
Signing bonus proration: $2,000,000
Per-game roster bonuses: $500,000
2018 Cap Figure: $6,000,000
The originally reported total of $12-12.5 million still may be reached with an incentive package that was not included in this morning’s initial report. Nonetheless, this is a strong commitment to the veteran edge defender, as the up front cash and low cap savings-to-dead money ratio in 2019 make him a strong bet to see the end of the deal. The contract gives Clayborn the 11th highest cap hit on the team in 2018, and the 4th highest among Patriots defenders behind Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, and Dont’a Hightower.