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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have shattered the ceiling for defensive tackles in the NFL with Gerald McCoy's new contract, giving him nearly $13.6 million per year over a seven-year deal that runs through 2021. That's according to a detailed contract breakdown by Joel Corry over at the National Football Post.
That is significantly less than the top defensive linemen in the NFL, as J.J. Watt received $16.7 million per year, Mario Williams got $16 million per year and Robert Quinn received $14.2 million per year. That despite the fact that McCoy had a large amount of leverage over the Bucs, who would have paid him over $18 million next year had they used the franchise tag to keep him.
While McCoy will receive an extra $7.2 million this season, the existing $12 million in salary he was set to receive is not counted for the purposes of the total compensation in his extension. That makes for a total of $95.2 million (up to $98 million with escalators) in new money, over seven new years.
At the time of signing, only $14.8 million is fully guaranteed, which includes a roster bonus and his base salary for this season. For all intents and purposes, the remaining $5 million in compensation he receives this season is also fully guaranteed. McCoy's contract includes an additional $36.7 million guaranteed for injury at signing, which is essentially all of his compensation through 2017.
His total 2015 compensation and his 2016 base salary will become fully guaranteed on February 4, 2015, which means he'll be fully guaranteed a total of $32.3 million by February -- which means it is effectively fully guaranteed right now, as he's not getting cut before then. The remainder of his 2016 and 2017 compensation will become fully guaranteed by the third day of the 2016 league year.
The Bucs have chosen a pay-as-you-go structure in McCoy's deal, as they do with nearly all their contracts. This means his yearly cap charges and real compensation will be identical throughout the deal, and there will be no dead money on the books if they decide to cut him after his guaranteed salary runs out.
| Season | Salary | Roster bonus | Cap charge | Dead money if cut | Notes |
| 2014 | $17,500,000 | $2,500,000 | $22,895,000 | Effectively $25.5 million | Includes $12.2 million in pre-existing compensation |
| 2015 | $5,000,000 | $6,500,000 | $14,095,000 | $2.5M before February 4, $17.5M after | Cap includes $2.5 million in dead money from previous contract |
| 2016 | $6,000,000 | $6,500,000 | $12,500,000 | $6M before third day of league year, $19.2 after | |
| 2017 | $13,250,000 | $13,250,000 | $12.7M after third day, 2016 league year | ||
| 2018 | $12,250,000 | $12,250,000 | $0 | ||
| 2019 | $13,000,000 | $13,000,000 | $0 | ||
| 2020 | $10,000,000 | $2,500,000 | $12,500,000 | $0 | |
| 2021 | $10,432,253 | $2,500,000 | $12,932,253 | $0 | |
In addition, a total compensation for 2015-2017 of $36,742,692 is guaranteed for injury only at time of signing.
Source: Joel Corry, National Football Post