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."
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