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Adrian Clayborn's four-year, $8.2 million contract is fully guaranteed

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Yes, you read that right: Adrian Clayborn got a fully guaranteed contract. The numbers for the contract were basically set because of the new rookie salary cap, and the main negotiating point was the amount of guaranteed money. Apparently, that amount is all of it. Note also that there is a fifth-year option in the contract, for the average salary of the 3rd through 25th best paid players at his position in that year, as with all first-round draft picks beyond pick 10. 

Last year's 20th overall draft pick  Kareem Jackson got a four-year $13.1 million contract, with $10.35 million in guarantees, including a fifth-year option. Obviously that's more guaranteed money than Clayborn got, although part of that is an effect of the new rookie salary cap. It will be interesting to see whether all first-rounders will have fully guaranteed contracts, Packers beat reporter Tom Silverstein certainly thinks so.

This represents a major shift from previous years, when rookies and especially first-rounders got incentive- and escalator-laden deals, with a much smaller percentage of guarantees. I wonder whether the NFL foresaw this happening, or whether this is an unintended consequence of the new rookie system. I certainly don't mind the system nor the price the Bucs paid. A guaranteed $2.05 million per year is not a lot of money to pay a quality first-rounder. 

Note that Clayborn isn't the first rookie with a fully guaranteed contract, as the Seattle Seahawks signed massive bust Rick Mirer to a fully guaranteed contract way back in 1993 as the 2nd overall pick. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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