https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/inside-the-daron-bland-deal
As was often the case when former Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons was hurrying quarterbacks into making ill-advised throws, Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland was in the right place at the right time.
On Sunday, Bland got a new contract that was quite possibly fueled by a desire from Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones to prove that, no, he doesn’t always drag his feet when it comes to paying the players who deserve new contracts.
But, as usual, the initial reports regarding the value of the deal contained more than a patina of bovine excrement; the base numbers were inflated by $2 million.
Here are the full and accurate details, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $22 million. (He’ll get $11 million within 15 days and the rest will be prorated and paid out with his 2025 base salary.)
2. 2025 base salary: $1.346 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 base salary: $12 million, fully guaranteed — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
4. 2026 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total, fully guaranteed (but must be earned).
5. 2027 base salary: $12 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed by 2027 — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
6. 2027 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed by 2027 (but must be earned).
7. 2028 option bonus: $19 million.
8. 2028 base salary: $2 million — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
9. 2028 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total.
10. 2029 option bonus: $21 million.
11. 2029 base salary: $2 million — with a $500,000 workout de-escalator.
9. 2029 per-game active roster bonus: $1 million total.
The deal includes annual escalators of $500,000 from 2026 through 2029. Bland gets $250,000 if he has five interceptions and the team makes the playoffs in the prior year. He gets the full $500,000 if he has seven interceptions and the team makes the playoffs in the prior year.
So it’s not a four-year, $92 million deal. It’s a four-year, $90 million deal, with $2 million in available escalators. (And $4 million is tied to being able to suit up and play in every game from 2026 through 2029.)
Of the total amount, $36.346 million is fully guaranteed at signing. Another $13 million becomes fully guaranteed in 2027.
As a practical matter, it’s a two-year deal with a year-to-year team-held option thereafter.
Finally, like so many other Dallas contracts, the team has used salary de-escalators in lieu of workout bonuses. Which means that, if Bland doesn’t show up for the minimum required offseason workouts the team can, and surely will, cut his pay by a half million bucks.
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/inside-the-daron-bland-deal
