As they often do, Mike Florio and his compatriots at Pro Football Talk have gotten the final numbers on Mike Wallace’s contract. A lot of Browns fans really wanted Mike Wallace. A few less wanted him after hearing the final tally of the Dolphins deal and just how much they had to fork over for the former Steeler wideout.
I’ve taken Florio’s numbers and put it in the format that we’ve come to use when talking about deals like we did yesterday with Paul Kruger. So, here’s how it looks.
| Signing Bonus | Workout | Salary | Cap | |
| 2013 | 2.2 | 0.05 | 1 | 3.25 |
| 2014 | 2.2 | 0.05 | 15 | 17.25 |
| 2015 | 2.2 | 0.05 | 9.85 | 12.1 |
| 2016 | 2.2 | 0.05 | 11.45 | 13.7 |
| 2017 | 2.2 | 0.05 | 11.45 | 13.7 |
| Total | 60 |
You will notice that as the Browns front-loaded Kruger’s deal with a roster bonus in the first year, the Dolphins haven’t. They’ve chosen to keep Wallace’s cap number relatively low in 2013 at $3.25 million before allowing it to balloon to a whopping $17.25 million in 2014. The salary in 2014 is fully guaranteed according to Florio.
I was curious what this same deal might have looked like structure-wise if Joe Banner and his crew had done the deal. I couldn’t find the details on if there are rules as to how big a roster bonus can be. You’ll remember that the Browns used a nearly $6.3 million roster bonus for Paul Kruger to front-load his deal.
Anyway, I used percentages to estimate what Banner might have hoped to achieve in a signing bonus and a roster bonus to structure the deal assuming he would have had similar goals to the way he structured Kruger and Desmond Bryant. This is what I came up with.
| Signing Bonus | Roster | Salary | Cap | |
| 2013 | 1.8 | 9 | 2 | 12.8 |
| 2014 | 1.8 | 10 | 11.8 | |
| 2015 | 1.8 | 10 | 11.8 | |
| 2016 | 1.8 | 10 | 11.8 | |
| 2017 | 1.8 | 10 | 11.8 | |
| Total | 60 |
Again, I can’t guarantee that I followed NFL rules because I’m unsure if there are rules as to what size the roster bonus is allowed to be. Also, obviously, the Browns might not have had (and probably won’t) have an appetite for a deal this big for a player like Wallace. Even still, I find it interesting to see how different teams go about their business. It wouldn’t have been much different in Mike Wallace’s eyes. He’d still be guaranteed the same amount of money and he’d earn it all guaranteed in the first two years regardless.
