I expected that QB Jay Cutler would wait for his big payday until he became a free agent in a couple years, but instead he went ahead and signed a 2 year contract extension. It seemed odd that he'd only sign for 2 years, but add it to the 3 years remaining on his rookie contract. From John Clayton at ESPN.com:
Under terms of the deal, Cutler will get $20 million in guarantees in this two-year extension, the source confirmed...
With the possibility of a lockout in 2011, Cutler and his agent, Bus Cook, decided to secure some guaranteed money by getting a new deal. With the new contract, Cutler will make around $50 million over the next five years.
So it's 5 years, $50 million, and $20 million guaranteed. That's similar to QB Aaron Rodgers. After he signed his extension last November, his deal was 6 years, $65 million, and $20 million guaranteed. As of last November, Rodgers was the 4th highest paid QB in the league, behind only QB Peyton Manning, QB Carson Palmer, and QB Ben Roethlisberger. Since then QB Eli Manning has moved ahead. So Cutler is probably the 6th highest paid QB, but I expected he'd receive more than Rodgers, and be paid similar to Eli Manning, so it looks like a very good deal for the Bears.