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The full, year-by-year contract details for Cleveland Browns ILB Demario Davis are now available, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Davis is expected to be one of the team's starting inside linebackers after the release of veteran ILB Karlos Dansby. Davis signed a 2-year, $8 million deal; his contract details and cap hits are illustrated below.
| ILB Demario Davis - Browns' Contract Breakdown | ||||
| Base Salary | Signing Bonus | Workout Bonus | Total Cap Hit |
|
| 2016 | $ 2,100,000 | $ 1,000,000 | $ 100,000 |
$ 3,200,000 |
| 2017 | $ 3,700,000 | $ 1,000,000 | $ 100,000 | $ 4,800,000 |
| Total | $ 5,800,000 | $ 2,000,000 |
$ 200,000 | $ 8,000,000 |
- Davis' deal includes $4.1 million in guaranteed money. His entire base salary of $2.1 million in 2016 is guaranteed, and he received a $2 million signing bonus. To me, workout bonuses in the first year of a contract are practically guaranteed, so for all intents and purposes, Davis actually has $4.2 million in guaranteed money.
- This type of deal seems to make sense for a team that is in a rebuilding mode. Davis is younger and cheaper than Dansby, but he has the same durability since he's started all 16 games in each of his past three seasons. The Browns have been in need of a top-level, home-grown inside linebacker for a long time now, and this gives Cleveland three years to find him (either in the 2016, 2017, or 2018 draft) before they have to say goodbye to Davis.
- Davis currently has the 11th biggest cap hit on the Browns. He will contribute to the Browns losing a compensatory pick since his contract averages $4 million per year. Right now, that only affects the 7th rounder that CB Johnson Bademosi would've yielded, but that temporarily doesn't matter because the Browns can only have four compensatory picks per year anyway. When you factor in Alvin Bailey's deal, though, the team still needs someone else to sign ILB Craig Robertson so they can maintain three fourth-rounders and one fifth-rounder in compensatory picks for 2017.