Source: Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star
The record contract the Colts handed defensive end Dwight Freeney late last week is yet another new wrinkle in the Larry Johnson-Chiefs contract saga.
Freeney's $72 million deal, which includes $30 million in bonuses and $37.5 million over the first three years, raised the roof on all future contract demands across the league. The Colts treated Freeney, the game's second-best defensive end after Julius Peppers, like a quarterback. And by doing so, the Colts hammered the point that you can't compare 2007 contracts by the standards established under the old collective-bargaining agreement. The franchise-tag value for defensive ends had been around $8.6 million. Once Peppers inks a new deal, an agreement that should surpass Freeney's, the franchise number for pass rushers will begin to approach $10 million. My point in bringing this up is it is being made abundantly clear that the deal that LaDainian Tomlinson, the league's best running back, signed in 2004 is obsolete when talking about Larry Johnson's value in today's market. If the Chargers signed LT today, he would garner a $30 million signing bonus and $36 million over the first three years of the contract.
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