Interesting article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Contract Winslow held out for will lose him $$ in the end
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Poor soldier Kellen Winslow. Seems he held out for this outrageous contract, only to find that after having a serious injury it is likely he will lose a large chunk of that deal he obstinately held out for.
Injury costing Winslow arm, leg
Lack of rollover could hurt bonuses
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter
Not only is the season lost for Browns rookie tight end Kellen Winslow Jr, his broken leg probably will cost him $5.3675 mil lion in roster bonuses that were mistak enly assumed as "guaranteed money."
Winslow's $40 million, six-year con tract includes roster bonuses of $2 million in 2005 and $3.3675 million in 2006 if he achieved one of 10 performance incentives in his first season.
Those incentives included specific targets such as 41 receptions, 801 yards, an 18.6-yard receiving average, 12 touchdowns and winning the league's rookie-of-the-year award. The easiest incentive for him to reach was playing on 35 percent of the Browns' offensive plays.
The latter incentive was considered a layup - until Winslow fractured his right fibula in Sunday's 19-12 loss to Dallas on Sunday.
While Winslow has not been technically ruled out for the season, his expected recovery time of eight to 10 weeks from surgery performed on Tuesday makes it doubtful he can play enough to reach the playing time incentive.
Ordinarily, players are protected from first-year injuries in such complex deals by having some incentives rolled over to their second season with increased targets. A 35 percent playing time incentive normally increases to 45 percent the player's second year.
But an industry source said Winslow's contract does not have the rollover clause. His contract specifically states the second bonus of $3.3675 million can only be earned if the first bonus of $2 million is earned.
Rollovers are included in the contracts of No. 2 pick Robert Gallery of Oakland, No. 3 Larry Fitzgerald of Arizona and No. 4 Philip Rivers of San Diego, said the source.
The contracts of No. 1 Eli Manning of New York and No. 5 Sean Taylor of Washington were structured differently and did not contain rollovers, the source said.
When Winslow ended his 12-day holdout, the Browns themselves reported the deal to include $16.5 million in guaranteed money - third-most in the draft. They were criticized by league insiders for giving up so much for the No. 6 pick.
But the contract takes a different perspective if Winslow is out $5.3675 million.
Contacted Tuesday, Kevin Poston, Winslow's agent, declined to discuss why the rollover was omitted from the contract.
"I know the contract very well. I'm very proud of the contract. You don't always get everything you want," he said.
"When you look at Kellen's deal, for the sixth overall pick, it's a very good deal. Anybody can look at a contract and pick over it and that sort of stuff. I'm not going to get into that."
Through spokesperson Lisa Levine, the Browns declined to comment on Winslow's contract.
