Jets Sign QB Sam Darnold To Four-Year, $30.25M Deal

July 30, 2018

Update:

Adam Schefter reports that Jets have officially signed first-round QB Sam Darnold to a four-year, $30.25 million contract that’s fully guaranteed and includes a$20 million signing bonus.

Manish Mehta reports that Darnold’s contract does indeed include offset language.

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Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Jets and the representatives for first-round QB Sam Darnold are currently working to find common ground on their language issue that would end his holdout.

According to Mike Garafolo, the Jets and Darnold communicated through the weekend and are finally making some progress on an agreement.

Over the weekend, Rich Cimini reports that the major sticking point in the ongoing standoff between the Jets and Darnold is related to default language pertaining to guaranteed money. Cimini explained that the Jets’ proposal would void Darnold’s entire guarantee if he’s fined by the league for discipline or conduct on/off the field, which is different from the Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen contracts.

Both Mayfield and Allen’s guarantee void with a suspension, but not a fine. Cimini explains that the Jets’ approach is unusual based on recent history, seeing as no top-3 pick in the past 10 drafts had voidables tied to league fines.

According to Manish Mehta, the Jets’ offer voids guarantees for suspensions and fines relating to PEDs/steroids and conduct detrimental to the team.

Darnold was one of just two draft picks who have yet to sign their rookie contracts.

Darnold, 20, was taken with the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft by the Jets. According to OverTheCap.com, Darnold will sign a four-year, $30,370,490 contract that includes a $20,167,628 signing bonus.

The contract will also include a fifth-year option for the Jets to pick up in 2021.

During his three-year college career, Darnold recorded 549 completions on 846 pass attempts (64.9 percent) for 7,229 yards, 57 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions to go along with 137 rushing attempts, 332 rushing yards (2.4 YPC) and seven touchdowns.