The lucrative five-year contract extension signed on Tuesday by Kansas City Chiefs star tailback Larry Johnson includes $43.25 million in so-called "new money," features an initial signing bonus of $12.5 million, and will pay the four-year pro more than $20 million before his 30th birthday.
The deal includes $19 million in guarantees, but nearly one-third of that is in the form of guaranteed base salaries during the first four seasons of the contract. And to earn the full $5 million in prorated roster bonuses included in the contract, Johnson must be active for all 16 games each season.
Details of the contract, which is essentially a six-year deal that runs through 2012 because Johnson had one season remaining on his original contract, were obtained through league salary documents.
For the 2007 season, Johnson will earn the $12.5 million signing bonus, a $750,000 base salary that is guaranteed, and a workout bonus of $50,000, for a total of $13.3 million. That base salary is a reduction from the $1.8 million Johnson was to have earned in base salary in the final year of his original contract, which he signed as a first-round choice in the 2003 draft.