In this day and age when guys are seemingly getting overpaid with ridiculous extensions every day, Jamaal Charles actually seems to have gotten fleeced by the Kansas City Chiefs and the guy making up the contracts.
The total number of the contract is $32.5 million over the next five years, which comes out to roughly over $6 million per season. However, the deal only includes $13 million in guarantees and, as we have come to learn, that’s really the only number that counts.
The $32.5 million is likely inflated by including every ridiculous escalator he can hit. The full details of the contract have yet to be released, but almost every deal has some sort of insane incentive that can never be reached just so the agent and player can announce a much higher number.
For instance, when the New York Jets signed D’Brickashaw Ferguson to an extension earlier this year, the deal included incentives that could only be activated if Ferguson blocked seven punts in one season.
Let me say that again.
The deal included incentives that could only be activated if Ferguson blocked seven punts in one season.
A stat for punts blocked is really only kept to keep track of how many times a punter has his punt blocked, and doesn’t really record the guy who did the blocking, but I’m assuming seven blocked punts in one season has never been done.
So for Charles, who knows what the escalators could be. A 2,500 yard season? Win MVP of the league? A 3,000 yard season? 100 receptions in a year? 54 punts returned for a touchdown? Either way, there has to be something in their bloating the contract.
Going on that educated assumption, Charles is getting underpaid. He’s proven himself as one of the most electric backs in the league and, because his speed allows him to avoid direct hits, he could play for quite a while even if he’s relegated to being a third-down back later in his career.
Charles doesn’t get the recognition he deserves because he plays in Kansas City, but off the top of my head I can only think of a handful of guys I’d rather have carrying the ball for me. Adrian Peterson, Steven Jackson, Frank Gore, maybe Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, maybe Arian Foster if he can keep it up and that’s about it.
And that’s with the up-front bias that I’m more partial to bigger backs.
Bottom line is, unless this is a rare case of a straight-up deal without a lot of fluff, the Chiefs have a top 10 running back for something of a bargain price.