Comparing the Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell deals

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Rams running back Todd Gurley got his big-money deal after only three seasons, two years before the franchise tag would have been applied to him for the first time. Jets running back Le'Veon Bell got his big-money deal after six years in the league, two after getting tagged and one after sitting out a full season to force his way to the open market.

When great players get to the open market, which rarely happens, they should re-set the market at their position. Bell didn’t, even if in one respect he sort of did. Much of it depends on how the two deals are compared.

So let’s compare the two deals.

Gurley received a much larger signing bonus ($21 million vs. $8 million), but Bell had more money fully guaranteed at signing ($27 million vs. $21.95 million). That said, Gurley’s contract ensured that he’d have $34.5 million fully guaranteed by the third day of the 2019 league year (that has happened), and that he’ll either have $45 million fully guaranteed over the first three years or $34.5 million fully guaranteed over the first two years. Also, the guaranteed money in Gurley’s deal has no offset language.

In contrast, Bell’s deal pays $27 million guaranteed through two years (including offset language) and $38 million through three years, with a rolling guarantee that triggers in 2021. Much of Gurley’s guarantees beyond the first year convert to full guarantees early, with a $7.55 million roster bonus due in 2020 becoming fully guaranteed in March 2019 and a $5 million roster bonus due in 2021 becoming fully guaranteed in March 2020. Gurley’s structure is clearly superior.

In short, Bell’s deal could end up being two years for $27 million. Gurley’s will be at worst two years for $34.5 million or three years for $45 million.

Gurley also has an injury guarantee at signing of $45 million, which could come in handy if his reportedly arthritic knee tempts the Rams to end the contract after only two seasons. If he has an injury that keeps him from playing in 2020, he can still try to collect the extra $10.5 million, pushing his haul to $45 million over three years.

Also, Bell’s deal hinges $2 million on per-game roster bonuses; Gurley’s deal has no per-game roster bonuses.

Gurley’s extension of four years, $57.5 million has an annual new-money average of $14.375. Bell’s four-year contract has a base value of $12.625 million per year without roster bonuses, $13.125 million with roster bonuses.

But here’s where the new money/value at signing distinction becomes important. From signing, Gurley’s deal has a base value of $11.574 million, more than $1 million per year less than Bell’s base value from signing, without per-game roster bonuses.

If Bell hits all of his performance triggers (which won’t be easy), the max value of the four-year contract will be $60.15 million. For Gurley, the max value (again, not easy — especially with an arthritic knee) of the extension is $60 million.

Although Bell’s contract looks worse than it could have been because he refused a long-term offer from the Steelers that some have characterized as better than the Jets’ contract (that’s definitely debatable), the per-year average over the four years of his contract definitely exceeds Gurley’s per-year average over six. However, Gurley’s guaranteed money and the structure of the vesting of the full guarantees gets him to either to $17.25 million per year over two or $15 million per year over three. That should have been the floor for Bell, especially since he made it to the open market with no restriction.

Unfortunately, Bell found himself as the rabbit in a one-dog race, and the Jets were able to take advantage of it. Which explains why Bell’s camp tried so hard last week to make it look like he had many suitors.