The Indianapolis Colts inked veteran pass rusher Justin Houston to a two-year deal last week hoping he will be able to make to an immediate impact working from the edge.
With the most salary cap space in the NFL, the Colts were able to give Houston plenty of guaranteed money up front in is two-year deal, which is seemingly worth $23 million.
Here’s an in-depth look at the contract numbers from Stephen Holder of The Athletic;
Houston, it turns out, got a legit $23 million in this deal, of which $18.5 million is guaranteed. Houston will get a full $14 million in 2019 by way of a $1 million base salary and $13 million roster bonus. Both of those sums are guaranteed. His cap number will be $14 million this year.
In 2020, Houston is scheduled to earn $9 million via an $8 million base salary and a $1 million roster bonus. Of that $9 million, $4.5 million is guaranteed. He’ll have a $9 million cap figure.
The Colts have a tendency to front-load their contracts in free agency. This allows them to part ways with a player down the line if they need to without having much of a dead cap hanging over their head.
The Colts are expecting Houston to benefit from the change in defensive scheme. They aren’t going to overwork him. He’ll probably be used on 60-65 percent of the snaps while working in a rotation.
While he was an outside linebacker in the Chiefs’ 3-4 alignment, Houston will be converting to a defensive end working from a three-point stance the majority of the time. He’ll also have the singular focus of getting upfield and impacting the quarterback in the Colts’ one-gap front without having to worry about dropping in coverage as much.
The Colts still have the most salary cap space in the NFL at $61 million, per the Over The Cap.
