Plus this is the NFL. If a player really wants to they can almost always force a cut or trade if they bitch and moan enough, become a clubhouse cancer, threaten to retire or just threaten to hold out. It's happened many times before.
This also isn’t something like baseball with guaranteed contracts. The team can cut anybody almost any time it feels like it. In fact that is why so many contracts are either front loaded so the player can get as much money as possible in the first few years or the team tries to get the salary put off with ever rising escalators. When a players salary keeps getting bigger year after year like that it’s almost certain they will be cut if for no other reason than so they can be resigned with a new contract that fits with the team’s finances.
The thing that must always be remembered is that NFL contracts are almost never really worth the number that the media gives as the total amount. Not only because players are often cut before the contract is up but also here is a lot of ways to creatively structure them, like with signing bonuses, roster bonuses, and other types of bonuses. To actually be almost guaranteed the full amount of money from a very large contract the player would have to be somebody like Peyton Manning where you know there is almost no possibility of you ever getting cut baring a horrific injury and they will almost certainly keep you around for the remainder of the contract no matter what. Or you would have to be a good rookie finishing off your rookie contract while they have you for relatively cheep.
This also isn’t something like baseball with guaranteed contracts. The team can cut anybody almost any time it feels like it. In fact that is why so many contracts are either front loaded so the player can get as much money as possible in the first few years or the team tries to get the salary put off with ever rising escalators. When a players salary keeps getting bigger year after year like that it’s almost certain they will be cut if for no other reason than so they can be resigned with a new contract that fits with the team’s finances.
The thing that must always be remembered is that NFL contracts are almost never really worth the number that the media gives as the total amount. Not only because players are often cut before the contract is up but also here is a lot of ways to creatively structure them, like with signing bonuses, roster bonuses, and other types of bonuses. To actually be almost guaranteed the full amount of money from a very large contract the player would have to be somebody like Peyton Manning where you know there is almost no possibility of you ever getting cut baring a horrific injury and they will almost certainly keep you around for the remainder of the contract no matter what. Or you would have to be a good rookie finishing off your rookie contract while they have you for relatively cheep.
