The Arizona Cardinals brought back outside linebacker and special teams ace Dennis Gardeck. After entering the league as an undrafted rookie in 2018 and making a name on special teams, getting selected as a Pro Bowl alternate in 2019, he was moved from inside linebacker to outside linebacker in 2020. He was super productive that year. Playing 93 defensive snaps, he had seven sacks before tearing his ACL.
He returned in 2021 on a restricted free agent tender. He played in 14 games and did not have a sack.
Now, he returns on a three-year deal worth $12 million. Let’s go over the financial details and salary cap implications of the contract.
Dennis Gardeck contract details
Gardeck receives a $2 million signing bonus.
In 2022, he will earn a salary of $1.25 million and $20,000 per game that he is active as a roster bonus. All of his salary is fully guaranteed.
In 2023, his salary increases to $3.27 million. $500,000 of that salary is fully guaranteed. He can earn up to $34,000 in per-game active roster bonuses as well.
In 2024, his salary drops to $2.46 million and can again make up to $340,000 in per-game active roster bonuses.
Salary cap implications
For cap purposes, Gardeck’s signing bonus is spread out over three seasons.
So for this coming season, depending on how many games he is active, his cap hit (signing bonus proration, 2022 salary and per-game roster bonuses) will be as much as $2.26 million.
In 2023, his cap hit increases to as much as $4.28 million.
In 2024, because of his decrease in salary, his cap hit will drop to as much as $3.47 million.
The way it is structured with his salary guarantees, he will be on the roster for two seasons and then the Cardinals have an out for his contract in 2024. They would save $2.8 million in cap space by cutting him then and only carry less than $670,000 in dead money.
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