Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Earlier this month, tight end Benjamin Watson inked a one-year, $3 million deal with the Patriots. At the time, both sides knew that Watson would be suspended four games for violating the PED policy.
So what does that do to his contract? Glad you asked, even if you didn’t.
First, he’ll lose four of his 17 weekly paychecks. (Players get a paycheck during the bye week.) With a base salary of $1.45 million, that amounts to $341,117.
Second, he’ll miss four per-game roster bonus payments of $18,750. That amounts to another $75,000.
Third, unless the contract was written to exempt the signing bonus, Watson could be required to forfeit 4/17th of his $600,000 signing bonus. If so, he would lose another $141,176.
Watson also can earn up to $650,000 in incentives. Missing four games could make that more difficult. And if one of the incentives rests on a Pro Bowl berth, that would become impossible; by rule, Watson won’t be eligible for the postseason All-Star honor.
In all, he’ll lose at least $416,117, and he possibly will lose another $141,176.
He could lose even more. Because Watson won’t be on the Week One active roster, his base salary won’t become fully guaranteed. The Patriots could decide at any point during the season to move on from Watson, and owe him nothing more than what he already has earned.