Chris Clemons, Philadelphia Eagle

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Reuben Frank;

Asante Samuel's contract is worth just over $57 million over six years, includes $20.6 million in bonus money in the first two years, and is structured so Samuel's salary cap figure never goes over $10 million in the first five years of the deal.

The contract, a copy of which was obtained by the BCT this morning, has base salaries of $645,000 in 2008, $1.9 million in 2009, then $8.895 million, $5.9 million, $8.4 million and $10.4 million from 2010 through 2013.

The Eagles gave Samuel a $6 million signing bonus, which is spread out over six years, adding only $1 million in each year of the deal to his salary cap figure. They gave him another $14 million in the form of a roster bonus, with $7 million to be paid this year and $7 million next year. Roster bonuses count fully against a team's cap in the year that they're awarded. That's why Samuel has such low base salaries in 2008 and 2009 - to keep his cap number manageable.

There are also sizable workout bonuses, including a $500,000 workout bonus this year and $100,000 in workout bonuses in each of the next five seasons, 2009 through 2013, for a total of $1 million. Workout bonuses, like reporting bonuses, count against the salary cap only in the year they're written.

The other interesting component of the contract, written by Joe Banner and Howie Roseman of the Eagles and agent Alonzo Shavers representing Samuel, is a huge 2011 likely to be earned bonus of $2.335 million, which counts against his 2011 cap figure. Samuel also has escalator clauses that could raise the value of the final two base salaries, in 2012 and 2013.

Officially, the Samuel deal goes into the books as a six-year contract worth $57.14 million.

Samuel's cap figures look like this:

2008: $9,145,000
2009: $10,000,000
2010: $9,995,000
2011: $9,335,000
2012: $9,500,000
2013: $11,500,000

While we're at it, here are the numbers on the contract for Chris Clemons, the defensive end the Eagles signed from the Raiders:

Base salaries - $600,000 in 2008, $1 million in 2009, $1.2 million in 2010, $2.3 million in 2011, $3 million in 2012.

Clemons got a $4 million signing bonus prorated over the five-year life of the deal at $800,000 per year and workout bonuses each year of $100,000. With some LTBE bonuses in the last two years of the contract, here are Clemons' cap figures:

2008: $1,500,000
2009: $1,900,000
2010: $2,100,000
2011: $3,885,000
2012: $4,200,000

Although this is technically a five-year deal worth $17,585,000$13,585,000, it can also be viewed as a three-year, $7.1 million contract because the last two years are so bloated.

easy be slippin yo

[SD_Eagle5]

News to you, old to us

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

By the way, the Eagles basically are paying a guy who would have been 2nd on the team in sacks last year absolute peanuts through what could be the prime of his career.

This is a very low-risk deal.  They're basically paying Clemons Matt Schobel money.  If he makes any impact at all, it will be a great, great deal.

[SunMo]

it's kind of surprising that a guy coming of an 8 sack season would settle so early in FA for that type of contract

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Well, the season appears to be an anomaly.  Since he came to the NFL as an undrafted free agent, he's been inconsequential or injured every year until last year.  Basically, he chose to come to a team that suits his skills ("fastballs") rather than wait out Odom and LaBoy and see what's left over.  He might have done better or might have done worse, I guess.

[SD_Eagle5]

it's kind of surprising that a guy coming of an 8 sack season would settle so early in FA for that type of contract

The surprise for me was that the Raiders didn't try to re-sign him, especially with the way crazy Al's been slinging loot this offseason. I went through a couple of their threads when he signed and it was a consensus that he was either the 2nd or 3rd best player on their D last season.

[BigEd76]

News to you, old to us

ban

[ice grillin you]

it's kind of surprising that a guy coming of an 8 sack season would settle so early in FA for that type of contract

you mean its kind of scary...if it was any other team id be real worried right now about this guy...instead im skeptical

he also has blown a knee in his career and been cut several times so what he got this year is probably a dream to him

[SD_Eagle5]

News to you, old to us

ban

As long as Gaylord can stay

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

he also has blown a knee in his career and been cut several times so what he got this year is probably a dream to him

Since he came to the NFL as an undrafted free agent, he's been inconsequential or injured every year until last year. 

I like the way you think.

[ice grillin you]

nice piece on clemons (as well as klecko and assante)...i like when a players ex team talks about him as they have no reason to over hype

New Eagle missed by his old coach
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer

PALM BEACH, Fla. - As free-agent signings go, the Eagles' addition of Chris Clemons last month did not create much of a frenzy.

In fact, the initial reaction for many Eagles fans was simply one word: Who?

On the other side of the country, however, the Oakland Raiders felt a real sense of loss when Clemons signed a five-year, $12.6 million deal to join the Eagles. According to a league source, the Raiders badly wanted to re-sign the 26-year-old defensive end, but he never gave them a chance. The source said that Raiders owner Al Davis tried to call Clemons but could not get through.

Clemons apparently had his mind made up that he was going to sign with the Eagles.

"We'll miss him," Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said yesterday during an early-morning media breakfast. "He was a really phenomenal special-teams player for us early before he even started playing.

"He was out of football and then he came in and contributed on special teams right away. When he finally got his chance, he really did a great job for us rushing the passer on third down. He'll be a loss for us."

After being released by the Washington taterskins and sitting out the entire 2006 season, Clemons made a tremendous impact for the Raiders last season, tying former Eagles defensive end Derrick Burgess for the team lead with eight sacks, including six in the team's final eight games.

"I don't know what they're going to try to do with him, but it'll be interesting to see if they're going to transition him into an every-down player and take him off special teams," Kiffin said.

It doesn't sound as if Kiffin believes Clemons is capable of playing every down, although in his two starts with the Raiders last season, the defensive end had three sacks and a forced fumble.

"I think you have to help him out a little bit because of his size," Kiffin said.

Clemons, listed at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, is small for a defensive end. In fact, he came into the league with the taterskins as a linebacker. Clemons, however, is about the same size as Indianapolis' Robert Mathis, who began his career as a pass-rush specialist for the Colts but has started 28 games in the last two seasons.

A few tables away from Kiffin, New England coach Bill Belichick spent most of his early morning answering questions about the never-ending controversy about his team's questionable filming habits.

After revealing that he met a second time with NFL officials following the Patriots' Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants, Belichick fielded question after question after question about still-unresolved accusations that a former team employee taped the St. Louis Rams' walk-through before New England's 2002 Super Bowl win in New Orleans.

"I don't know how the league could have done any more than what they did," Belichick said. "I've answered so many questions, so many times, so many different ways for so many different people. I don't know what more they could possibly do."

Given that line of questioning, Belichick was more than willing to answer a few inquiries about a couple of Eagles who used to work for him. He was particularly forthcoming about Dan Klecko trying to become a full-time fullback.

"Dan is an explosive guy," Belichick said. "He runs well. I know he has a boxy body, but he runs well, catching the ball, and he's a tough kid. He's football smart. I think he has the ability to do it. I think he has a lot of work to do, but I think physically he could do it."

Although fullbacks run the ball in the Eagles' offense about as often as head coach Andy Reid delivers a quality anecdote, they do sometimes have to play the role of receiver.

Klecko "has good hands," Belichick said. "He's not a receiver, but for a back . . . I'm not saying he's Kevin Faulk, but he's better than some I've seen. He can catch the ball. I don't think that's an issue."

Colts coach Tony Dungy also thinks Klecko can make the transition to full-time fullback.

"The challenge is really for him to visualize himself in that position and to give up the desire to play defensive line," Dungy said. "Our Super Bowl year, he was our fullback for 10 games. Skill-set wise, he can do it. He's very smart, he's got good hands, and he's a tough, physical guy."

Belichick was less willing to elaborate on the loss of Asante Samuel, the Patriots' Pro Bowl cornerback who signed with the Eagles.

"Asante did a good job for us," Belichick said. "In the end, he received a better offer from Philadelphia and we understand that. I think Asante is a good player. We did what we did and . . . I'm not going to talk about what somebody else did or didn't do or how somebody else will utilize him. We did what was best for our football team, but Asante did a good job for us."

[phattymatty]

Although fullbacks run the ball in the Eagles' offense about as often as head coach Andy Reid delivers a quality anecdote,