Deshaun Watson’s contract created quite a stir in the NFL. Not only was it eye-opening in that the 5-year, $230M contract was fully guaranteed, it also became a benchmark for player agents and it will certainly influence contractual talks between the Ravens and Lamar Jackson. But that aside, the deal also stirred up some things on a couple other fronts.
Back during the league’s dark ages when the league wasn’t the cash cow it is today and before TV revenues became the lifeblood of the NFL, owners who agreed to guarantee a portion of a player’s contract over time, had to escrow the future guaranteed amount just to be certain that the money was available for the player per the terms of the deal.