Russell Okung's Self-Negotiated Contract Has Zero Dollars Of Guaranteed Money

Russell Okung negotiated his way to the Broncos on a five-year, $53 million contract. Good for him! That’s a shitload of money for a player to get himself without the help of an agent. He’ll get to keep that extra three percent, which could amount to a cool $1.5 million. However, PFT obtained the details of Okung’s deal and it looks like he loaded the contract up with incentives and team options, and didn’t get any guaranteed money in the deal. Whoops!

First off, every year after the first one is a team option, so Okung’s deal is basically a one-year contract that can be renewed annually by the Broncos for five years. The contract is also heavily backloaded, so the 28-year-old Okung will get more expensive and easier to cut the further he ages away from his prime. Also, uh, none of his money this year is guaranteed. From PFT:

But it’s not even a $5 million deal for one year. He has a $1 million workout bonus, a $2 million base salary, and a $2 million roster bonus tied to being on the 53-man roster for any one game. So, basically, the Broncos are giving Okung $1 million to participate in the offseason program, with an option before Week One to pay him another $4 million to actually play for them in 2016.

While this deal guarantees Okung good money as long as he’s healthy and playing, the Broncos don’t have to eat any extra money if they want to dump Okung. His contract allows the team to renew or not renew Okung whenever they so please. You would think he’d learn a few lessons from his dumb holdout, but alas, doesn’t look like it.