On Saturday, the Raiders announced a three-year contract extension for tight end Michael Mayer, and according to NBC Sports host Mike Florio, the deal was a legitimate deal without a lot of “fluff.”
“The three new years pay $45 million, an average of $15 million per year. From signing, it’s a four-year, $47.02 million deal, with an average of $11.755 million,” Florio reported on Saturday.
“Mayer has $22.5 million fully guaranteed at signing. The full $30 million in guarantees will vest within six months. It puts him among the highest-paid tight ends in the league — and it will surely prompt plenty of other tight ends to call their agents.”
Florio’s information didn’t come with a year-to-year breakdown of Mayers’s contract, but those details were revealed on Wednesday.
What we know about Mayer’s contract is that he is essentially tied to the Raiders for two more years – or at least it would be highly inconvenient for the team to move away from him before then.
Mayer is under contract with the Raiders for four more years and the first year they can get out of his contract and save money against the salary cap is 2028, according to OverTheCap.
If all goes as planned, Mayer will compliment to Brock Bowers for the foreseeable future, but it’s fair to wonder if he might be an expensive insurance policy, as well.
Mayer’s new deal puts him among the highest paid tight ends in the league, and that’s huge accomplishment for a player with just 89 receptions and three touchdowns in his NFL career.
As others have pointed out, Mayer got a “tremendous” deal, but the Raiders have their reasons for paying him at the top of the tight end market without the numbers to necessarily support the cost.
x: @raidersbeat