Amon-Ra St. Brown is the 17th receiver drafted in 2021 and the second receiver to sign a lucrative long-term contract.
Here are the actual details of the deal St. Brown and the Lions signed Monday, according to a source familiar with the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $16.5 million.
2. Base salary in 2024: $1,366,000, fully guaranteed.
3. 2025 Option Bonus: $8.5 million, fully guaranteed.
4. Base salary in 2025: $8.3 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2025 Offseason Roster Bonus: $100,000.
6. Roster bonuses per game in 2025: $510,000 total.
7. Base salary in 2026: $27.5 million, injury guaranteed at signing, fully guaranteed in 2025.
8. 2026 Offseason Roster Bonus: $100,000.
9. Roster bonuses per game in 2026: $510,000 total.
10. Base salary in 2027: $23.37 million, of which $14.834 million is guaranteed at signing, $7.417 million of which is fully guaranteed in 2026, and the remaining $7.417 million is fully guaranteed in 2027.
11. 2027 Offseason Roster Bonus: $100,000.
12. Roster bonuses per game in 2027: $510,000 total.
13. Base salary in 2028: $35.4 million.
14. 2028 Offseason Roster Bonus: $100,000.
15. Roster bonuses per game in 2028: $510,000 total.
The contract has $35,276,000 fully guaranteed at signing. The Lions can only avoid guaranteed base salary in 2026 by cutting him after 2024, so his practice salary will be $62,776,000. The injury compensation is $77,612,000.
The average new money for a four-year extension is $30,002,500. But his final year compensation package ($36.01 million) will push him up to that level. The three-year extension is worth $28 million annually.
From signing, the contract will have an annual value of $24,675,000. Excluding the inflated final year, the average value of the five-year contract would be $21.841 million.
As with many other contracts awarded to recipients, the details paint a very different picture than initially reported. St. Brown's contract is no exception.
He is technically the highest recipient of the New Money APY. But Colts receiver Michael Pittman, who has $63,386,000 in cash over his first three years, is on a more lucrative deal with three years and $70 million, then either the franchise tag or free agency or a new long-term contract. are tied.
Still, it's a great deal. But this isn't the best deal ever made for any receiver.
Even if that's the case, it's only a matter of time before Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase raise the bar even higher. It could probably be significantly higher.
