The Buffalo Bills made Mitch Morse one of the highest-paid centers in the NFL a few years ago when they signed him from the Kansas City Chiefs. After a pay cut last year, they rewarded him with a new contract extension this offseason.
He gets a $7.5 million signing bonus as part of $11.25 million in first-year cash payments. It gives him a nice pay bump and makes him whole from that pay cut. The $7.5 million signing bonus is part of $10.64 fully guaranteed money at signing but none of the money beyond Year 1 is guaranteed.
This is another Brandon Beane special with all the guaranteed money front-loaded, meaning the general manager can easily move on from the player at any point in the future. He did it with Jon Feliciano and Darryl Williams a year ago, as well.
His cash payments in the following two years are $8.25 million and $8.5 million with nearly identical cap hits of $10.75 million and $11 million. That includes roster bonus in March and per-game bonuses during the season.
The new contract lowers Morse’s 2022 cap hit from $11.25 million to $9 million, a savings of $2.25 million.
Here are the yearly breakdowns.
2022
Old contract signing bonus: $2.75 million
New contract signing bonus: $2.5 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Per-game active bonus: $510,000 ($30,000 per game)
Base salary: $3.14 million
Cap hit: $9 million
2023
Pro-rated signing bonus: $2.5 million
Roster bonus: $1 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Per-game active bonus: $510,000 ($30,000 per game)
Base salary: $6.64 million
Cap hit: $10.75 million
Dead cap: $5 million
Cap savings if cut: $5.75 million
2024
Pro-rated signing bonus: $2.5 million
Roster bonus: $1 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Per-game active bonus: $510,000 ($30,000 per game)
Base salary: $6.89 million
Cap hit: $11 million
Dead cap: $2.5 million
Cap savings if cut: $8.5 million
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