The Los Angeles Rams made their second big move of the offseason last week when they landed Bobby Wagner in free agency. His contract was reported as being a five-year, $50 million deal that could be worth up to $65 million with incentives, but the details weren’t initially known.
And as with just about every NFL contract, the finer details reveal exactly how much Wagner is getting and how long the contract is actually for. Effectively, it’s a two-year deal worth $17.5 million, and Wagner can earn up to $23.5 million in the first two years with incentives.
According to NFL Network, Wagner gets $6.5 million in his first year with the Rams and he has a roster bonus of $3.5 million that’s fully guaranteed next year. So in total, he gets $10 million fully guaranteed at signing.
His 2023 salary is $7.5 million and that becomes guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year next offseason, so the Rams will have the opportunity to move on from Wagner next spring if things don’t work out. If they do cut him before his salary becomes guaranteed, he would only cost them $10 million for one year.
The #Rams have to decide next March (five days into the league year) whether to keep Wagner or not because his 2023 base salary ($7.5 million) becomes fully guaranteed at that point.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 4, 2022
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk reported the finer details of the contract, including his $5 million signing bonus, $1.5 million salary (guaranteed) in 2022, and future base salaries: $8.5 million in 2024, $8 million in 2025 and $8.5 million in 2026.
According to PFT, Wagner can earn up to $2 million in incentives each year if he plays 90% of the defensive snaps, the Rams make the playoffs and the team ranks better than fifth-worst in net points allowed, net yards allowed and net passing yards allowed per play.
He can also get $1 million each year that he’s a first-team All-Pro, or $500,000 if he’s a Pro Bowler and the Rams improve in net yards allowed or net yards per passing play. So at most, he’ll get $3 million per year in incentives, which is how the contract can be worth up to $65 million ($50 million base + $15 million in incentives).
It’s important to note that Wagner can void the final three years of the contract if he plays 90% of the snaps and the Rams make the postseason in 2022 and 2023, or if he’s a Pro Bowler in each of those two years. That would allow him to become a free agent again.
Over the Cap has the yearly cap hits for Wagner, too.
- 2022: $2.5 million
- 2023: $12 million
- 2024: $12 million
- 2025: $11.5 million
- 2026: $12 million
According to Over the Cap, the Rams can cut Wagner in 2024 and save $9 million in cap space, taking on just $3 million in dead money. Below is the full breakdown of Wagner’s deal, via Over the Cap.
So although it looked like Wagner was going to get $10 million per year from the Rams, it’s possible he only gets $10 million total for one season or $17.5 million for two years – a fairly reasonable contract for a future Hall of Famer at this point in his career.
The fact that he’ll only take up $2.5 million in cap space this year is a win for the Rams, allowing them to save room for other free agents and to possibly give both Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp raises.