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The St. Louis Rams gave Chris Long a contract worth a little more than what was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday night. Long's deal is actually worth $58 million with $36.76 million guaranteed, says Aaron Wilson of Scout.com who is usually very plugged in on contract issues.
UPDATE: Both reports are correct per Kevin Demoff. Thomas is going off the numbers for the four years starting 2013-2016. Wilson is including this year's.
That is a considerable jump over the initial report of just $27 million in guaranteed money.
The deal puts Long's salary this season at $10.3 million. He is due a $13.25 million base salary in 2013 that is fully guaranteed. In 2014, Long's salary goes to $13.2 million, but is only guaranteed for injury. It becomes fully guaranteed if he is on the roster five days after the upcoming Super Bowl. He gets an $8 million salary in 2015, with a $2 million roster bonus due early in the league year. In the final year of the deal, Long is due a $9.75 million salary.
His cap hit for this season remains at $18.547 million. It drops to $13.25 the year after and $13.2 in 2014, $10 million in 2015, and $11.75 million in 2016.
It still looks like an incredible deal for the Rams who locked up on the game's top pass rushers over the last three years. He could have easily made more in free agency in 2013, though he likely would have gotten the franchise tag.