Retaliation

The Minnesota Vikings may now be sorry they opened up this contract loophole, as the Seahawks retaliated nastily. They signed Nate Burleson to a seven year $49 million dollar contract with the following provisions:

"Sources close to the situation confirmed that Burleson's entire deal would be guaranteed if he plays five games in the state of Minnesota during any one year of the deal. Another unrealistic provision is that if Burleson is paid more per year than all of the team's running backs combined in 2006, all of the deal is guaranteed.

"Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, by himself, averages just under $8 million under his recently signed contract, already more than the $7 million Burleson would average. For Minnesota, however, the highest-paid running back is free-agent acquisition Chester Taylor, who averages $3.5 million, and their other backs' salaries wouldn't add up to Burleson's $7 million."

I guess this second provision won't really hurt the Seahawks, because Alexander won't be cut in 2006, but if he were to be, then they would have to cut Burleson as well, or guarantee him the entire contract. I guess these contracts really give teams an ability to abuse the system, and the NFL will shut them down. It would be great to see Minnesota actually sign Burleson, renegotiate Taylor's contract to give him a bit more money in 2006 to match Burleson, and then hope Burleson gets injured, or if not, sit him for 3 home games or trade him.