Inside the Amon-Ra St. Brown deal
Amon-Ra St. Brown was the 17th receiver drafted in 2021. He's the second to get a lucrative long-term deal.
Here are the real details of the contract signed Monday by St. Brown and the Lions, per a source with knowledge of the terms.
1. Signing bonus: $16.5 million.
2. 2024 base salary: $1.366 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2025 option bonus: $8.5 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2025 base salary: $8.3 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2025 offseason roster bonus: $100,000.
6. 2025 per-game roster bonus: $510,000, total.
7. 2026 base salary: $27.5 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed in 2025.
8. 2026 offseason roster bonus: $100,000.
9. 2026 per-game roster bonus: $510,000, total.
10. 2027 base salary: $23.37 million, $14.834 million of which is guaranteed at signing, $7.417 million of which becomes fully guaranteed in 2026 with the other $7.417 million becoming fully guaranteed in 2027.
11. 2027 offseason roster bonus: $100,000.
12. 2027 per-game roster bonus: $510,000, total.
13. 2028 base salary: $35.4 million.
14. 2028 offseason roster bonus: $100,000.
15. 2028 per-game roster bonus: $510,000, total.
The deal has $35.276 million fully guaranteed at signing. The practice guarantee is $62.776 million, since the Lions can avoid the 2026 base salary guarantee only by cutting him after 2024. The injury guarantees are $77.612 million.
The four-year extension has a new-money average of $30.0025 million. However, the compensation package in the final year — $36.01 million — pushes it to that level. Through three years, the extension is worth $28 million per year.
From signing, the deal has an annual value of $24.675 million. Removing the puffed-up final year, the average value of the five-year deal from signing is $21.841 million.
Like so many other contracts given to receivers, the details paint a far different picture than the initial reports. St. Brown's deal is no different.
He's technically the highest-paid receiver in new-money APY. But with $63.386 million in cash over the first three years, Colts receiver Michael Pittman has a better deal at three years, $70 million and then the franchise tag or free agency or a new long-term deal.
It's still a great contract. But it's not the best deal any receiver has ever done.
Even if it were, it's just a matter of time before Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase push the bar higher. Possibly significantly higher.
