"Crazy Restructure" Satisfies Nick Foles and Bears
Nick Foles called it a "crazy restructure" when he spoke with Chicago media about his trade from Jacksonville to the Bears.
From the Bear' standpoint, there was nothing crazy about it.
Even Foles had to admit it was critical, "Because if I don't agree to a restructure, I'm not traded so therefore I'm back in Jacksonville."
The details of the deal came onto Spotrac.com on Tuesday and the deal was oh so friendly to the Bears, thanks to the efforts of GM Ryan Pace and contract negotiator Joey Laine on the Bears' end.
The Bears are only counting $5.3 million for Foles against the salary cap this year as a result of the restructuring. Of that, $4 million in a guaranteed salary and $1.3 million his remaining prorated signing bonus.
This allowed the Bears to get done some of the lower-cost free agent signings they made last week and it left them now with about $10.5 million under the cap for signing rookies as well as any other expenses during the season.
They could have even more left if they do a contract extension with Allen Robinson II.
The second and third years of the deal are when the bigger guaranteed amounts take place, but they're still only $9.3 million apiece. The Bears are paying that much this year against their cap for Mitchell Trubisky.
Of the $9.3 million, $4 million is in salary, $4 million in roster bonuses and $1.3 million in prorated signing bonus. However, only $1 million of the salary is guaranteed in 2022 while all $4 million of it is guaranteed in 2021.
There are several incentives and escalators involved which can raise the amount by $6 million a year if he hits them, but this obviously can't be projected against the Bears' salary cap.
Those include passer rating of 95-98.5 at $500,000, 98.5-101.9 $1 million and 102 or higher $2 million; playing time of $500,000 for 50% of the offensive snaps, $750,000 for 65% of the snaps and $1.5 million for 80% or higher.
The incentives are for playoffs, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl appearances.
"This is ultimately what I thought was best based on a lot of information from this last season to where agreeing to a crazy restructure was necessary to allow me to go play for coach (Matt) Nagy and the Chicago Bears," Foles said. "It's probably not the logistical move if you're looking at numbers and contracts and moving and all that stuff. But it was necessary based on my heart and a lot of prayer and thinking."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
