When the Denver Broncos agreed to a three-year contract with linebacker Dre Greenlaw last week, it was originally reported as a $35 million deal. KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis later clarified that it was actually worth up to $34 million.
Now the full details of the contract are known and it looks even better for the Broncos.
Greenlaw received $31.5 million from Denver with a $6.5 million signing bonus that will be prorated over the next three years (about $2,166,666 per season against the salary cap). Greenlaw can earn $1.53 million through per-game roster bonuses in each of the next three years.
This season, Greenlaw will have a $3.47 million base salary, plus the prorated signing bonus and the per-game roster bonus, giving him a total 2025 salary cap hit of $5,816,666. Between his $6.5 million signing bonus and $5 million guaranteed salary, Greenlaw is set to have $11.5 million guaranteed in 2025, but there’s no guaranteed salary beyond that.
Next year, Greenlaw will have a $7.47 million salary with $2 million guaranteed for injury in March. That plus his per-game bonus will give the linebacker a 2026 salary cap hit of $11,166,666.
In two years, Greenlaw will have a $9.47 million salary with the per-game roster bonus, bringing his total 2027 salary cap hit to $13,166,668.
Because the linebacker only has guaranteed salary in 2025, it’s essentially a one-year deal for the Broncos with the option of keeping the 2026 and 2027 years. If Denver cut the linebacker next year, the team would save $6,833,332. If he’s cut in 2017, the Broncos would save $11 million.
It would be easy for the team to get out of Greenlaw’s contract after one season if he does not return to his pre-injury form. If all goes well, though, Denver will happily pay Greenlaw $31.5 million over three seasons if he fully recovers from his Achilles injury.
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