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USA Today Sports Media Group
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Jess Root

Jalen Thompson contract extension details, salary, salary cap implications

The Arizona Cardinals inked safety Jalen Thompson to a new contract that keeps him with the team through 2025. The former fifth-round supplemental draft pick from 2019 gets a big pay day.

The original numbers reported were that the deal is worth nearly $40 million and has $24.5 million in guaranteed money.

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Over the Cap has Thompson’s contract details. Below, we break down the numbers and details of the contract extension below.

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Contract details

Originally reported at nearly $40 million over the extension, Over the Cap has the total at $36 million. The numbers add up to $36.71 million through 2025.

Since it is a three-year extension, it will be known as a $12 million per-year average, even though he gets $36 million over four seasons.

The total in guarantees comes to $20.85 million.

He receives a $10.17 million signing bonus.

He is scheduled to receive a $7.935 million option bonus in 2023.

He has $170,000 in per-game roster bonuses he can earn from 2022-2025.

His salaries in 2022 and 2023 are fully guaranteed.

There is a voiding year in 2026 for cap purposes.

Yearly salaries

Thompson does not get a big bump in yearly salary until 2024. His raises come in the form of bonuses.

His yearly salaries are as follows:

  • 2022: $965,000 (fully guaranteed)
  • 2023: $1.1 million (fully guaranteed)
  • 2024: $8.3 million
  • 2025: $7.56 million

Salary cap implications

Thompson’s original rookie contract still carries a cap charge in 2022 of $85,730.

His $10.17 million signing bonus will be prorated over five seasons (2022-2025 as well the voiding 2026 year), making his cap charge for the bonus each year $2.034 million.

His 2023 option bonus of $7.935 million will prorate over four seasons, including the 2026 voiding year, giving the deal a prorated cap charge of more than $1.98 million.

As such, this is what his cap hit looks like each year:

2022: Up to $3.08 million (2022 salary, old signing bonus proration, new signing bonus proration, potential per-game roster bonus)

2023: Up to $5.29 million (2023 salary, new signing bonus proration, option bonus proration, potential per-game roster bonus)

2024: Up to $12.49 million (2024 salary, new signing bonus proration, option bonus proration, potential per-game roster bonus)

2025: Up to $11.75 million (2025 salary, new signing bonus proration, option bonus proration, potential per-game roster bonus)

2026: $4.02 million in dead money from bonus prorations

Over the Cap has his 2025 cap hit being up to $13.75 million, but his salary and prorated bonus cap hits only come out to $11.75 million. It is likely he has a $2 million roster bonus that is not yet added to the salary chart.

If he does end up with a $2 million roster bonus in 2025, then his cap hit would then be up to $13.75 million.

The Cardinals would have a potential way out of the contract in 2025. They could save $5.7 million in cap space that year but would carry a dead money charge of more than $8 million.

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