Earl Bennett Contract Details: Chicago Bears WR Has Plenty Of Incentives Built In To Deal

The Chicago Bears and wide receiver Earl Bennett agreed to a four-year contract extension on Friday, and now Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune has learned some great details about exactly how the contract is structured. Here is a breakdown of the details:

The contract has a base value of $15 million, but has $3 million dollars worth of performance-based incentives Bennett can earn throughout the life of the deal. The performances incentives are structured as follows:

Bennett can trigger an additional maximum of $3 million if he has three consecutive seasons of 80 receptions and 1,200 yards. Those targets, individually, are worth an additional $500,000 in 2015. So, in 2012, 2013 or 2014, if he has only one season with 80 receptions, he will trigger an additional $500,000.

The roster bonus will increase by an additional maximum of $1.65 million if he has three consecutive seasons of 70 receptions and 1,000 yards.

The roster bonus will increase by an additional maximum of $600,000 if he has three consecutive seasons of 65 receptions and 850 yards.        

via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

As for general structure in the signing, $6 million is structured as a signing bonus paid to Bennett up-front, with $1.2 million of that counting against the team salary cap this season. Here is the year-by-year break down:

• 2012: $1 million fully guaranteed base salary with a $500,000 roster bonus payable in March and a $100,000 workout bonus.
•  2013: $2.25 million base salary ($1.5 million guaranteed) and a $100,000 workout bonus.
• 2014: $2.35 million base salary and a $100,000 workout bonus
• 2015: $2 million base salary and a $100,000 workout bonus. 

For more on the Chicago Bears, check out Windy City Gridiron, an SB Nation blog dedicated to the Monster of the Midway. For more updates around the NFL, head to SB Nation Pro Football.

Earl Bennett Contract Extension: 4-Year Deal Worth $18 Million

Chicago Sun-Times beat reporter Sean Jensen is reporting the Earl Bennett contract extension is worth $18M dollars total, with $9M in guaranteed money. With a base salary averaging about $2.25M per year, the new contract would make Bennett the Bears' highest paid wide receiver in 2012 according to Spotrac's salary data.

If Bennett meets all the incentives in the extension (which would likely require Pro Bowl-type seasons), he would earn close to $4.5M, which would put him in the top 10 receiver salaries this year, but still far behind the likes of Miles Austin ($8.5M), Calvin Johnson ($8.9M), and Larry Fitzgerald ($20.0M).

According to Jensen, the new contract was pursued by mutual interest between Bennett and the Bears organization:

"I's home, man," Bennett said of Chicago. "The organization has been loyal to me, and I want to be loyal to them. They had the first shot at it."

For more on the Chicago Bears, check out Windy City Gridiron, an SB Nation blog dedicated to the Monster of the Midway. For more updates around the NFL, head to SB Nation Pro Football.

Chicago Bears Sign WR Earl Bennett To 4-Year Contract Extension

The Bears have extend 4th-year pro and quarterback Jay Cutler's favorite target, Earl Bennett.