Kaepernick’s contract

This entry was posted by on Thursday, 5 June, 2014 at

I love boobs. Heck, who doesn’t. But let’s talk contracts. Specifically, let’s talk Kaepernick’s contract.

When the numbers were announced it looked as though this contract, in particular the guaranteed money, would impact the Roethlisberger negotiations. But, what are the practical guarantees of the deal? What do the 49ers actually have to pay Kaepernick?  The answer: $12.973M, not the $61M that was reported. His signing bonus and 2014 salary are the only dollars fully guaranteed. The balance of his “guarantees” are base salaries for 2015, 2016, 2017 and $5.2M of his 2018 salary. But, and this is key, those guarantees are only guaranteed for injury, not skill.

Each April 1 Kaepernick’s salary for the following year becomes fully guaranteed. Free agency usually begins the second Tuesday in March. So, the 49ers can take a look at their options for a couple of weeks and simply cut Kaepernick at any time, thus creating cap room in any year. To say this is team friendly is a huge understatement. This is the kind of deal we need to get with Jason Worilds.

Kaepernick also gets $2.4M per year in workout/roster bonuses if he’s on the team. That is quite substantial, even for a QB. But, the contract requires him to, with his own after tax dollars, purchase an insurance policy that pays the 49ers $20M in the event that he has a career ending injury.

The Steelers should be so lucky as to get Ben to sign a deal like this one.

Kaepernick contract


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