The South Florida Sun Sentinel posted this weekend about Dolphins left tackle Jake Long and his contract. Apparently the writer was cruising through the NFLPA and saw that Long’s going to be making some serious coin in the upcoming seasons. The former first overall selection signed a five-year $57 million deal worth $30 million in guarantees. Apparently he’ll be seeing almost all of that money thanks to a bump likely for making the Pro Bowl. Check out the raises Long is getting in the upcoming years.
- 2009 – $3.75 $6.5 M
2010 – $4.5 to $9M
2011 – $5.25 to $10M
2012 – $6 to 10M
2013 $6.75 to $10.75M
Now we’re not 100% sure about this one but it seems likely that the increase was due to Long making the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Whether or not that’s the case, spending $9-$10 million a season on a starting offensive lineman seems a little absurd. Especially consider that the franchise tag for a running back only pays around $6.5 million a season (that’s the average salary of the top five players at the position). Then again, you put the right blockers in front of a runner and anyone will be a Pro Bowler.
