Breaking Down Big Snack's Contract

Most Steelers fans were rightfully thrilled upon finding out we were able to keep Casey Hampton for 3 years more at the cost of $21.3 million. But after seeing Vince Wilfork get a 5 year $40 million deal, it made Hampton's contract look that much better. Since Hampton's contract seemed like a big win for the Steelers, I decided to take a closer look at it from both Hampton's and the Steelers' view points.

With Hampton's Pro Bowl season last year, he showed he's still one of the top nose tackles in the league. But what is the market value for a top NT? To get a ballpark estimate, it's always best to look at what players at the position were paid last year & what they're signing for this year.  In 2009, Hampton had a cap hit of about $6.5 million.  Even though the defensive tackle position for franchise tag includes both NT & DT, his was one of the top 5 salaries for both positions so it was used in calculating the 2010 franchise tag.  Cleveland's Shaun Rodgers was the only NT to have a larger cap hit than Hampton (by only 20 thousand).  In fact, only 2 other NT's had cap hits above $5 million, SD's Jamal Williams & NYJ's Kris Jenkins.  That hopefully gives you an idea of what other nose tackles are paid.

As for this offseason, there have only been 3 significant signings/tagging at NT beside Hampton's.  Both SF's Aubrayo Franklin & GB's Ryan Pickett were franchised tagged for a cool $7 million guaranteed.  So I guess it's best to compare Hampton's deal to Wilfork's.  Just at a glance, NE's Wilfork received roughly 8million/year for 5 years while Hampton gets 7 million/year for 3 years.  For guaranteed money, $25 million out of Wilfork's $40 million contract  is guaranteed, while Hampton got $11 million guaranteed of his total $21.3 million. You obviously don't need me to tell you Wilfork got a better deal, but Hampton was only a step below...and that's not too shabby considering Hampton is Wilfork's senior by 4 years and will be 33 years old by week 1 of the regular season.

The details of Hampton's contract:
Signing Bonus: $6.5 Million

2010: Pro-Rated SB: $2.167 million       Base Salary: $3 million       Conditional Bonus: $1 million
2010 Cap hit: $6.167 million

2011: Pro-rated SB: $2.167 million         Base Salary: $3.91 million        Conditional Bonus: $1 million
2011 Cap hit: $7.077 million

2012: Pro-Rated SB: $2.167 million       Base Salary: $4.89 million        Conditional Bonus: $1 million
2011 Cap hit: $8.075 million

Notes: It's very likely the extra $5.5 million guaranteed (excluding his signing bonus) are portions/all of his 2010 & 2011 base salaries.
-As we have heard, the conditional bonuses are based on Casey meeting certain weight requirements & attending offseason workouts.
-According to the NFLPA website, I unfortunately believe the Post Gazette got some of their numbers wrong. I think EVERY year, Hampton's contract has a weight & workout clause for 1 million dollars. Logic would also back that up because why would the Steelers only insist on Hampton having a weight clause for the 1st year? And if it was a yearly requirement totaling $1 million for the 3 years combined, then it would be a yearly $333K+change weight clause...not a one-time thing pro-rated over 3 years. Those are 2 different things.

I would have to say, keeping Hampton the next 2 years for a cap hit of about $6 million & $7million is very reasonable, especially since if he was franchised tagged it would have been a $7.8 million guaranteed one-year contract.

Now what happens if the Steelers draft a stud NT in the 1st round of the draft & Hampton uses his new contract as an excuse to put on enough weight to become Earth's 2nd moon? Obviously the Steelers wouldn't be interested in cutting Hampton right after signing him to a 3 year deal. Assuming all of his 2010 base salary is guaranteed & 2.5 mil of 2011 salary is guaranteed, Steelers would only save about 200K by cutting him in 2011...probably not worth it. In 2012, the steelers would save $5.89 million against the cap if they cut Hampton.

That brings me to last couple observations. With the large majority of his base salaries guaranteed the next 2 years, Hampton will be on the Steelers roster for those 2 years regardless of who we bring in (barring a trade or disabling injury). However, it's highly unlikely that the steelers will want to keep a 35 year old NT with weight issues around for that 3rd year when looking at an $8 million cap hit & $6 million of it is avoidable. That basically makes this a 2 year deal. The ONLY way he's still here in 2012 is a 2008 Max Stark-esque situation where we're forced to over pay to keep him because we don't have someone who can take his place.

So the Steelers are really looking at his contract as:
2010: $6.167 million
2011: $7.077 million
2012: $2.167 million w/ a built in $5.89 million option to keep Hampton one more year.
And if the new CBA will be similar to the current one, the 2012 hit can be split over 2012 & 2013 if he's cut. I think that's a great deal from the steelers stand point.

On the other side of things, it would be naive to think Hampton & his agent don't realize the same thing. But in his mind he signed a 2 year, $15.41 million contract (or $7.7 million/year) with the steelers having an option to bring him back at age 35 for one more year at $6 million. Even though it's significantly shorter than Wilfork's contract, it's a lot closer in yearly value than you first thought, huh?

After some inspection, it was a great move by the Steelers. Hampton is being fairly compensated compared to the rest of the market. We now have 3 drafts & 3 free agency periods (counting this year) to hand pick Hampton's replacement. And we get to look forward to 2 more years of big snack jokes...can't go wrong with that.

via www.topnews.in