:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63241239/usa_today_9698533.0.jpg)
With the Pittsburgh Steelers seemingly signing players on a daily basis as of late, there is a constant stream of contract information to work through as the figures slowly emerge. On Thursday, it was the numbers for Anthony Chickillo and Jordan Berry that were the latest to hit the NFLPA contract database.
As per Steelers salary cap expert Ian Whetstone, Chickillo agreed to a deal worth a total of $8 million, one that also included a signing bonus worth $2.195M and a $500,000 roster bonus in 2020.
Looks like the contract for Steelers LB Anthony Chickillo includes a signing bonus of $2.195 million and a salary of $805,000 this year. Base salary in 2020 is $4.5 million. If reports of an $8M total value are accurate, could be a $500,000 roster bonus in 2020, as well.
— Ian Whetstone (@IanWhetstone) March 14, 2019
Base salaries of just $805,000 this year and $4.5 million next season indicate a heavily backloaded deal, one that creates salary cap charges of $1,902,500 and $6,907,500 in the respective years. And while Chickillo will have a relatively minimal impact on the cap in 2019, the structure of his contract appears to suggest that there is a very good chance he will never see the second year of his deal.
2019
- Base salary - $805,000
- Prorated signing bonus - $1,097,500
- Salary cap charge - $1,902,500
2020
- Base salary - $4.5 million
- Roster Bonus - $500,000
- Prorated signing bonus - $1,097,500
- Salary cap hit - $6,097,500
The contract that Berry has agreed to is even more team-friendly, worth a total of $3.7 million over two-years. A signing bonus worth $750,000 means the punter is far from guaranteed a roster spot once the regular season begins, and Berry’s new deal will cost the Steelers just $1.525 million against the cap this year, assuming he wins any camp battles.
Looks like the two-year contract for Steelers punter Jordan Berry includes a $750,000 signing bonus and base salaries of $1.15M this year and $1.8M next year. Cap hit of $1.525 million, this year. Pretty modest deal.
— Ian Whetstone (@IanWhetstone) March 14, 2019
The $1.9M cash this year about matches what he got last year.
Considering that Chickillo and Berry are both coming off one-year contracts signed as restricted free agent in 2018 that accounted for $1.907 million in salary cap space, the fact that Pittsburgh have managed to retain each of them for less than they cost last year should be of some comfort to those who initially questioned the signings.