When the New England Patriots’ signing of free agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs broke, the terms of his deal were reported as three years with a value of up to $69 million. As is the case with most NFL contracts, those first raw numbers did not tell the full story of the pact.
For starters, a look at its details as first reported by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shows that the actual base value of the contract is $63.5 million with the difference made up of incentives. In addition, we can see that the Patriots keep plenty of flexibility: they effectively signed Diggs on a one-year basis with a possible out after each season.