For the second time in two years, Carson Wentz and his contract have been traded. With Wentz heading to the Washington Commanders, what is the salary cap impact for both Washington and the Indianapolis Colts?
Carson Wentz’s contract details and bonuses
Wentz was drafted with the second overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. He signed a four-year, fully guaranteed $26.6 million rookie deal with an option for a fifth year. He played three years on that rookie deal before signing his $128 million contract extension in 2019. At signing, $66.5 million of that money was guaranteed, with the total guarantees coming out to $107.9 million.
The base contract value was actually only $111 million. However, there are some easily achievable escalators built in. They would take the amount up to the $128 million value that the deal is considered to be.
As part of the contract, Carson Wentz had a $16.4 signing bonus and an option bonus of $30 million. His salaries in both 2019 and 2020 were fully guaranteed, as was his $10 million roster bonus in 2021. Additionally, Wentz’s 2021 salary became guaranteed on the third day of the 2020 NFL season.
A further $15 million of salary for the 2022 season became fully guaranteed at the start of the 2021 league year. That was set to be the final guarantee in the contract.
Wentz has three years remaining on his contract
When Wentz signed his deal he still had two years remaining on his original deal. That means that his contract would run through the 2024 season. Therefore, as we enter the 2022 NFL season, Wentz’s contract has another three years left to run.
However, with the contract now having been traded twice, there is currently no prorated bonus money remaining. Therefore, the contract is in essence a one-year deal with two club options worth $26.2 million and $27.2 million.
What is Wentz’s salary cap number?
As it stands at the point of the trade, Wentz’s contract will carry a cap number of $28.294 million. Of that, $22 million is in base salary, with a further $5 million as a roster bonus. There is also a 17th game bonus of $1.294 million for the 2022 season.
That cap number is set to go up to $26.176 million and $27.235 million. As part of those numbers, Wentz has a total of $10 million in roster bonuses in 2023 and 2024. A further $41 million is set to be paid in base salary across the two years. Much like with 2022, there are 17th-game bonuses in his contract for both 2023 and 2024. In 2023, that 17th-game bonus is worth $1.176 million, before being $1.235 million in 2024.
Usually, when a player is traded, he leaves an impact on the salary cap of the team that traded him. However, as the Colts acquired Wentz in a trade, any remaining dead money was left with the Eagles in 2021. Therefore, the Colts will have no dead money on their salary cap from this deal.