The Green Bay Packers and outside linebacker Preston Smith agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal that included a $16 million signing bonus on Tuesday.
Here’s how the contract breaks down, based on reporting from ESPN’s Rob Demovsky:
Base salaries by year: $850,000, $4.35 million, $6.85 million, $11.35 million
Signing bonus: $16 million
Per-game roster bonuses: $31,250 46-man active roster bonus ($500,000 per year)
Other roster bonuses: $4 million due third league day of 2020, $4 million due third league day of 2021
Workout bonuses: $650,000 per year
| Year | Base | Signing | Roster | Workout | Cap hit | Dead cap |
| 2019 | $850,000 | $4,000,000 | $500,000 | $650,000 | $6,000,000 | $16,000,000 |
| 2020 | $4,350,000 | $4,000,000 | $4,500,000 | $650,000 | $13,500,000 | $12,00,000 |
| 2021 | $6,850,000 | $4,000,000 | $4,500,000 | $650,000 | $16,000,000 | $8,000,000 |
| 2022 | $11,350,000 | $4,000,000 | $500,000 | $650,000 | $16,500,000 | $4,000,000 |
The deal pays out $27.5 million in the first two years and includes $16 million in fully guaranteed money (all in the signing bonus).
The Packers could get out after two seasons and save $8 million on the cap in 2021 (with an $8 million dead cap hit), potentially making this a two-year, $27.5 million deal. Functionally, it’s probably a three-year deal worth $39.5 million, considering the $12.5 million in savings available and minimal dead money hit in the final year.
Preston Smith’s deal is constructed almost exactly like the deals signed by Za’Darius Smith and Adrian Amos. This one includes $4 million roster bonuses paid out the third day of the league year in 2020 and 2021 and significant per-game and workout bonuses.
Once again, the deal is frontloaded financially but backloaded cap-wise thanks to a pro-rated signing bonus and escalating base salaries. His cap hit will be only $6 million in 2019.
