Tannehill Contract Specifics

[Rich]

5/18/2015: Signed a six-year, $96 million contract. The deal contains $45 million guaranteed, including an $11.5 million signing bonus and each of Tannehill's first two base salaries. 2015: $745,000, 2016: $9.34 million, 2017: $17.975 million, 2018: $17.47 million, 2019-2020: Under Contract, 2021: Free Agent

Amortized bonus is $2.3 million per season until 2019. In 2020, amortized bonus does not count because it can only be spread out for 5 years. Base salary in 2020 is $19.5 million so they can cut him and open up that much in cap room.

Here are cap savings by year if they Dolphins cut or trade him:

2016 - (-$6.9 million) - in other words, we lose $6.9 million in cap space if cut or traded
2017 - $13.4 million
2018 - $15.2 million
2019 - $18.75 million
2020 - $19.5 million

There you have it folks. It is a two year deal, he gets more money up front and if he performs and continues improving, the Dolphins have him locked up until 2020. If he underperforms or regresses, they can cut their losses in 2017 and see significant cap savings.