What Does Guaranteed Money Mean in NFL Contracts?

NFL free agency is only a few weeks away, meaning we'll all have a ton of new contracts to sort through and compute their value against the league's salary cap. Once free agency opens, you'll hear a lot about today money vs. guaranteed money. What follows is an explainer about what guaranteed money means.

What Does Guaranteed Money Mean in NFL Contracts?

Guaranteed money is, quite simply, the amount of money a player is guaranteed at signing. NFL contracts are rarely "fully guaranteed" meaning many have performances bonuses or additional years that a team can get out of paying if a player is released. There are three types of guarantees: skill, cap and injury. If a contract is guaranteed for all three, it is considered "fully guaranteed."

Essentially, a player can negotiate to cover all three categories or any number of them over the length of his deal. If money is fully guaranteed it means the team cannot avoid paying the player if it releases him for a lack of skill, to get under the salary cap or due to an injury.

What Is the Most Guaranteed Money Ever in an NFL Contract?

Deshaun Watson sill holds the record for the most guaranteed money in an NFL contract. In March of 2022, the Cleveland Browns landed Watson in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans. They subsequently signed Watson to a five-year, $230 million deal and guaranteed the entire contract.

In the years since, no one has topped that guarantee. Before the 2023 season, Joe Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension with the Cincinnati Bengals that contained $219 million guaranteed. Shortly before that, Justin Herbert signed a five-year extension with the Los Angeles Chargers worth $262.5 million, with $218.7 million guaranteed. Those are currently the second and third biggest guarantees in NFL history.

What Is a Signing Bonus?

A signing bonus is the amount of money the player gets at the time of signing the contract. It can be a way for NFL teams to get players to take back-loaded contracts by giving a big bonus up front but keeping the yearly salary of the contract low initially. Additionally, those signing bonuses count against the salary cap but are prorated over the length of the contract. If a player signs a five-year deal with a $30 million signing bonus, the bonus adds $6 million to the cap over each year of the deal, as opposed to $30 million in the first year and nothing after.

What Are Injury Guarantees?

An injury guarantee in the contract essentially protects a player from a team releasing him to avoid paying him if he's injured. If a player's contract is not guaranteed for injury, a team may release him and get out of his contract if he's unable to perform football duties as a result of team activities. If the team does release him, he is entitled to any money protected against injury.

You're now fully ready to understand the tweets that will come flying fast and furious during free agency.