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LONG

Years: 4
Total value: $34 million
Total guarantee: $16 million
Signing bonus: $5 million
Workout bonus: None
Not Likely To Be Earned Incentives: $375,000 each year based on playing time and playoffs, and Pro Bowl.

2013 base salary: $3 million (fully guaranteed).
2014 base salary: $8 million (100% skill/cap guarantee at time of signing and $4m guaranteed for injury at time of signing; 100% injury guarantee if on roster last day of 2013 league year).
2015 base salary: $9.25 million ($4 million fully guaranteed if on roster fifth day of 2015 league year), plus up to $400,000 in playing time escalators.
2016 base salary: $8.75 million (no guarantee) plus up to $600,000 in playing time escalators.

2013 salary cap number: $4.25 million
2014 salary cap number: $9.25 million
2015 salary cap number: $10.5 million
2016 salary cap number: $10 million

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So in summation, Long will receive a nice paycheck if he can stay healthy for two years. But the Rams certainly built in plenty of protection in case Long breaks down.

There's no way that contract doesn't get restructured at some point. They aren't going to let him have that kind of cap impact, healthy or not.

There's no way that contract doesn't get restructured at some point. They aren't going to let him have that kind of cap impact, healthy or not.

He will either return to form, and collect a another nice pay day, or he will be released next off season

He will either return to form, and collect a another nice pay day, or he will be released next off season

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This certainly is a lot more complex than what we had before. Basically, it’s a two-year deal for Long — and really, only Long’s 2013 season is fully guaranteed, for a total of $12 million ($5 million signing bonus, $3 million 2013 base salary and $4 million guarantee for 2014).

To get the other half of his $8 million salary in 2014, it appears he has to be on the active 53-man roster on the last day of the 2013 season — which means he can’t be on Injured Reserve. That’s a big distinction for Long, who has ended each of the last two seasons on IR.

The Rams could still keep Long for 2014 even if he does get hurt in 2013, though, and since they’re already paying him $4 million for that season, they probably will. But that’s the first “out” for the Rams.

The second “out” is a big one, and that’s before the 2015 season. The Rams can escape from the contract after just two years if they decide to cut him before the fifth day of the 2015 league year (sometime in early March).

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Fisher said that he believes that Jake Long will get back to where he was, so, if that is the case then those numbers are fine for the best LT in the NFL. My personal feelings are that Jake Long is on the slide.