In the past several years, the Green Bay Packers have negotiated slightly different rookie contracts with players that they have selected in the third round of the NFL Draft. While the contracts signed with players drafted in every other round included only base salary and signing bonus language, third-round picks have received part of their compensation in the form of workout bonuses as well.
This oddity comes as a result of teams having more wiggle room to negotiate with third-round picks. This year’s third-rounder, tight end Jace Sternberger, was the final Packers draftee to sign his rookie contract, doing so on Monday just before the start of minicamp. Now, thanks to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, we have the full breakdown of that deal, which does indeed include a workout bonus for years two through three of the contract.
Sternberger’s deal is worth a grand total of $3,865,528, with a signing bonus of $1,006,528. However, in each season from 2020 to 2022, there is a $30,000 workout bonus included as part of the deal. Here’s a full look at how the terms break down:
Sternberger Actual Contract
Year | Base | Signing Bonus | Prorated SB | Workout Bonus | Cap Hit | Cash |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Base | Signing Bonus | Prorated SB | Workout Bonus | Cap Hit | Cash |
2019 | $ 495,000 | $ 1,006,528 | $ 251,632 | $ 746,632 | $ 1,501,528 | |
2020 | $ 651,452 | $ 251,632 | $ 30,000 | $ 933,084 | $ 681,452 | |
2021 | $ 769,548 | $ 251,632 | $ 30,000 | $ 1,051,180 | $ 799,548 | |
2022 | $ 853,000 | $ 251,632 | $ 30,000 | $ 1,134,632 | $ 883,000 |
Interestingly, this deal comes to about $340,000 more than the $3,526,524 contarct expected contract for the 75th pick in the 2019 Draft, based on Overthecap.com estimates. The difference comes in two parts: first, the workout bonuses and second, increases in Sternberger’s base salaries above the league minimum (which is the typical schedule for third-round picks). In 2020, he will make about $96,000 more than the $585,000 league-minimum salary; 2021 will see an increase of about $125,000 and 2020 gets him an extra $118,000.
All told, it will be a relatively modest change from the contract schedule, and one that will have little impact on the Packers’ salary cap. Furthermore, Sternberger’s cap hit in 2019 is off from the scheduled amount by only one dollar, thanks to his signing bonus being four dollars higher than the scheduled amount. As a result, however, the Packers locked in Sternberger’s appearances for offseason workouts over the next three years, likely as a tradeoff for giving him more compensation overall.