Lalji says Nichols signed for $350k in hard money with incentives that could take it to $560k. That's pretty rich, IMO. $350k base is not too far out of line but I thought we could have got him for closer to $300. There were not gonna be any other suitors at his pay grade so we had some leverage. But he had some, too -- our desire for a second experienced QB.

If both guys negotiated the same games-played incentive ($5k per game/$90k total available), and if the reported numbers are accurate, we would be in for a minimum payout of $657k (MBT $217k, MN $350k, GP $90k). If MN negotiated a higher GP incentive, obviously that could push our total QB spend up; at the same time, it would be an incentive for mgmt. to play MBT instead of MN.

I hope MN's GP incentive maxes at $90k and his other incentives (potentially $120k) relate to team success: first-place finish, GC appearance, GC win. If he plays the most and we have a great year, I'd be thrilled to have him exceed $500k in earnings. But I still like MBT's chances of winning the starting job, if it truly is the open competition we've been told it will be.