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After the draft, the Cleveland Browns signed CB Joe Haden to a massive contract extension. The extension was widely reported to be a 5-year, $68 million extension, but it now seems as though it is actually a $67.5 million extension.
Also, there is $2 million in Haden's deal that is "missing" from the details at the moment. Haden's signing bonus was reported to be $14 million, but we think there is a chance it could actually end up being $16 million. Our breakdown of Haden's contract below shows $65.5 million worth of the contract, with the allocation of that extra $2 million to be determined at a later date.
| CB Joe Haden - Browns' Contract Breakdown | ||||
| Year | Base Salary | Signing Bonus | Workout Bonus | Total |
| Old (2014) | $ 6,678,193 | $ 1,949,701 | $ 200,000 | $ 8,827,894 |
| New (2014) | $ - | $ 2,800,000 | $ - | $ 2,800,000 |
| 2015 | $ 8,300,000 | $ 2,800,000 | $ 100,000 | $ 11,200,000 |
| 2016 | $ 10,100,000 | $ 2,800,000 | $ 100,000 | $ 13,000,000 |
| 2017 | $ 11,100,000 | $ 2,800,000 | $ 100,000 | $ 14,000,000 |
| 2018 | $ 11,100,000 | $ 2,800,000 | $ 100,000 | $ 14,000,000 |
| 2019 | $ 10,400,000 | $ - | $ 100,000 | $ 10,500,000 |
| Extension | $ 51,000,000 | $ 14,000,000 | $ 500,000 | $ 65,500,000 |
| Total | $ 57,678,193 | $ 15,949,701 | $ 700,000 | $ 74,327,894 |
Here are some notes on Haden's contract:
General Contract Notes
- The first row represents the money that remains unchanged from Haden's original contract -- remember, 2014 was the final year of his rookie deal.
- The "Extension" row takes the cumulative total of the figures from "New (2014)" to "2019." The "Total" row takes the cumulative total of both the extension and what was remaining on Haden's original deal.
- The numbers in Haden's extension are pretty clear cut: $51 million in base salary, $14-$16 million in his signing bonus, and $500,000 in workout bonuses. Depending on the aforementioned "missing $2 million," Haden's extension should have a value of $65.5 million.
- There is no question about it: we are paying Haden like the best cornerback in football, and he'll come at a premium from 2016-2018, with a little bit of a dip again in the final year of his deal. Haden is the only player currently under contract through 2019 (Joe Thomas is with the team through 2018, and Alex Mack could be too if he does not opt out).
- Besides being a top-paid cornerback, this deal was very attractive to Haden because of how much guaranteed money was involved. Here are some notes on his guarantees:
Guaranteed Contract Notes
- For this section, we include money from his current deal as part of his guaranteed money (i.e. the $1.949 signing bonus from his original deal).
- 2014: $6,678,193 base salary & $2,800,000 signing bonus
- 2015: $8,300,000 base salary & $2,800,000 signing bonus
- 2016: $10,100,000 base salary & $2,800,000 signing bonus
- 2017: $4,000,000 base salary & $2,800,000 signing bonus
- 2018: $2,800,000 signing bonus
- The above comes to $43,078,193. Haden is supposed to be getting $45,078,193 million (but again, that's where the missing $2 million comes into play). Haden gets a lot of security with this contract. The point where he would be "cuttable" if the Browns are in terrible cap shape would be 2017 onward.
- In 2017, Haden would carry dead money of about $6.4 million. In 2018, the dead money is only $3.2 million. In 2019, there would be no cost to cutting him. If Haden continues to play at a high level, I anticipate him being retained throughout the life of the contract, though.
Although the numbers varied, sources that contributed to obtaining these numbers included OverTheCap, the National Football Post, and ESPN.