NEW YORK — Guaranteed payments for unrestricted NFL free-agent contracts this month make up just over half of the total money to be paid, down a bit from 2018, when Kirk Cousins signed a fully guaranteed $84-million deal. The average amount per contract in this free agency period has been $15.04 million, of which the guaranteed dollars reached $7.54 million; the larger monetary agreements, such as quarterback Nick Foles’ deal with Jacksonville for $88 million over four years, $50.125 million guaranteed, skew the average somewhat. Eighteen veterans signed contract extensions that totalled $226.725 million, of which 41 per cent ($93.17 million) was guaranteed. Contracts in Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL are fully guaranteed for the length of the deal. All player contracts are negotiated individually and the CBA does not specifically address them, so other mechanisms are needed to boost the guarantees.

Source: National Post March 22, 2019 19:29 UTC