Demar Dotson injury: No torn ACL despite rumors, but Cherilus is now paid quite a bit

The numbers for Gosder Cherilus contract are out, and they're interesting. According to Rick Stroud, he'll be paid $2.5 million this year, split into a $500,000 roster bonus, a $1.5 million base salary, and $$500,000 in roster bonus over the first 12 games of the season. In addition, he'll receive $2.5 million in base salary and roster bonuses in 2016, escalating to $3.5 million if he plays 75% of the snaps in 2015. Of course, he's unlikely to actually see his 2016 salary, as the Bucs aren't going to keep two highly-paid right tackles on the roster next year.

Contrast that with Demar Dotson: he's set to earn $2.5 million this season and $1.75 million in 2016. Dotson is massively underpaid, of course, and he and the team were hashing out a new contract before the injury, but those numbers are still interesting in comparison. The Bucs are investing quite a bit in Cherilus for just a half-season rental while Dotson recovers from injury, a process which should be complete somewhere between week five and week seven.

In light of that, it'll be interesting to see whether the Bucs continue their contract talks with Dotson. They've been forced to allocate some of their budget to Cherilus, and DOtson won't be available for about half the season.

This would have made more sense had Dotson actually torn his ACL and been out for the year, a rumor that actually started today because Ian Beckles talked to...a waitress. That appears to be completely baseless: Lovie Smith specifically said that Dotson's injury wouldn't require surgery, and a "trusted source" denied that Dotson had torn his ACL to JoeBucsFan.

So no, Dotson is not out for the year and does not have a torn ACL. But Gosder Cherilus sure is making a lot of money for a part-time starter.