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When Trey Flowers had initially agreed to a deal with the Detroit Lions, the reported terms were said to be in the $16-17 million range. It turns out that was a slight underestimate. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Flowers deal is actually for $90 million over five years, or an average of $18 million per year:
The #Lions are giving Trey Flowers a five-year, $90 million contract that includes $56M in guarantees, source said. $40M fully guaranteed at signing. #Patriots weren't going there. Big deal for Detroit's new big edge presence.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 12, 2019
Again, the key here is guaranteed money, and Flowers will be getting a ton of it: $56 million total guaranteed, $40 million of which is guaranteed the day of signing the deal.
To put that in perspective, here are some of the other latest deals given to edge defenders:
Khalil Mack: 6-year, $141 million ($23.5M/year average), $90M in total guarantees, $60M guaranteed at signing
Olivier Vernon: 5-year, $85 million ($17M/year average), $52.5M in total guarantees, $40.5M guaranteed at signing
Chandler Jones: 5-year, $82.5 million ($16.5M/year average), $51M in total guarantees, $31M guaranteed at signing
So it looks like the Lions are paying top-tier price for Flowers. Will they get top-tier production out of the pass rusher? Only time will tell.
UPDATE: Albert Breer has more details:
New Lions DE Trey Flowers is set to sign a five-year, $90 million deal, and it is a whopper from a cashflow standpoint.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 12, 2019
• $28.875 million in 2018.
• $40 million over first 2 years.
• $54.374 million over first 3 years.
First two years are fully guaranteed.
UPDATE 2: Here’s basically a full breakdown of Flowers’ contract:
Trey Flowers' $90 million Lions deal: $56M gtd, $28.07M signing bonus, salaries $805K (gtd), $11.125M (gtd), $14.375M (gt inj at signing, $10M full gt if on roster third day of lg yr), fully gtd if on roster 3rd day '21 lg yr, $1.625M 3rd day '22 roster bonus, $2M 3rd day '23
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 12, 2019
So here’s what it breaks down to in more consumable terms over the next two years:
2019: $805,000 salary, $5,614,000 prorated signing bonus = $6.419M cap hit
2020: $11,125,000 salary, $5,614,00 prorated signing bonus = $16.739 cap hit
UPDATE 3: Here’s a full breakdown of the deal, assuming there are no more unreported bonuses in the contract:
A screenshot of Trey Flowers' deal. 10M of his 2021 salary and his 2022 roster bonus become fully guaranteed in 2021. Flowers has an good chance of turning two years and see to three years and see. pic.twitter.com/La4GwCDpDG
— CapSpace=$12,386,721 (@patscap) March 12, 2019