The Bills signed free agent cornerback Josh Norman earlier this week. His contract was a reported $6 million deal with the potential for $8 million if incentives are reached.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano has now laid out exactly how this contract is going to work, and it looks decent for Buffalo.
Josh Norman's Bills contract: $2.8M salary ($1.5 guaranteed), $1.5M roster bonus paid on the 5th day of the league year. Gets another $500K if he's on 53-man on Week 1. Then $200K workout bonus, up to $1M in per-game roster bonuses, incentives based on PT, INTs, Pro Bowl All-Pro.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) March 11, 2020
Norman’s base salary is one-year, $2.8 million. But he’s pretty much guaranteed $3 million. Of that $2.8M, $1.5M is guaranteed. Then on the fifth-day of the league year, he’ll get a roster bonus of $1.5M then as well.
The fifth day of the league year isn’t when the season starts in September. The league year starts March 18 when free agency opens. So the Bills are not going to cut Norman by March 23, so they’ll end up paying him that total.
Assuming Norman makes the roster, he’ll then get $500K and will get offseason workout bonuses of $200K. So far, all those totals get us to $5 million for Norman. The rest via the report come in incentives for every game and ones at the end of the season for interceptions and any other distinctions such as Pro Bowls for Norman.
Previously the Bills signed Kevin Johnson to a one-year, $3 million deal and Vontae Davis had a $5 million deal on a one-year contract length as well. Norman will still get more than those guys, but to reach that full $5-plus million, he’ll have to earn it.
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