Inside the DeVonta Smith deal
The Eagles got ahead of the potential explosion in the receiver market by signing DeVonta Smith to an extension.
A first-round pick in 2021, Smith gets his second contract before the likes of 2020 first-rounders Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, and Brandon Aiyuk, and 2021 first-rounder Ja'Marr Chase.
Here's a look at the details of the Smith deal, along with some analysis. First, the numbers. Per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $20,351,554.
2. 2024 base salary: $1.055 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2025 option bonus: $11.421 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2025 base salary: $1.170 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2026 offseason workout bonus: $240,000, fully guaranteed as of March 2025.
7. 2026 base salary: $13.25 million, fully guaranteed as of March 2025.
8. 2026 per-game active roster bonus: $510,000, fully guaranteed as of March 2025.
9. 2027 offseaon workout bonus: $240,000, fully guaranteed as of March 2026.
10. 2027 base salary: $21.25 million, fully guaranteed as of March 2026.
11. 2027 per-game active roster bonus: $510,000, fully guaranteed as of March 2026.
12. 2028 offseason workout bonus: $240,000.
13. 2028 base salary: $22.25 million.
14. 2028 per-game active roster bonus: $510,000.
The contract also includes $1 million in escalators for 2026, 2027, and 2028.
The deal has a new-money average of $25 million; it's basically the same three years, $25 million that Tyreek Hill received two years ago. Given that Smith was due to earn $3.406 million this year and $15.591 million in 2025, the value of the five-year deal from signing is $18.799 million over five years.
The simple reality is that the longer a team waits the more expensive a second contract gets. The Eagles got a jump on that process, before other high-end receivers get high-end deals.
