Agents Take The 2018 Contract Awards fea

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The NFL's financial landscape is being a se sed through awards for the sixth-straight year on CBSSports.com, now that the regular season has ended. These awards differ from the traditional NFL honors because they are from an economic perspective, emphasizing 2018 veteran acquisitions. Players acquired by trades or in free agency can have a tremendous impact on an NFL team's fortunes. Rookies weren't given any consideration because their salaries are a function of draft position and the rookie wage scale. The same applies to players on restricted free-agent tenders, since the amounts are set by the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement.Most Valuable Acquisition LAC OLB #52 Mack made an immediate impact after the gave up their next two first-round picks to get him from the on Labor Day weekend and gave him a blockbuster contract in the proce s. He became the league's highest-paid Michael Jordan Jersey non-quarterback with a six-year, $141 million contract extension averaging $23.5 million per year. Mack has the fourth-most overall guarantees ever in a contract at $90 million, of which $60 million was fully guaranteed at signing. Both are records for non-quarterbacks. More on the NFL Mack won NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for September after generating five sacks, forcing four fumbles and returning an interception for a touchdown in the season's first four games as the Bears got off to a 3-1 start. The 2016 NFL Defensive Player of Year's dominance was the driving force behind the Bears capturing the NFC North and becoming the NFL's most formidable defense. The 12.5 sacks Mack had in 14 games were one-half fewer than the 13 sacks his old team, the Raiders, had this season. Runner Up: , QB, Least Valuable Acquisition ARI QB #9 The signed Bradford to a two-year, $40 million contract despite the QB playing only six quarters of football in 2017 due to a balky left knee that had previously suffered two ACL tears. The $15 million fully guaranteed at signing consisted of a $10 million signing bonus and a $5 million base salary. The deal also contained $5 million of 46-man per-game active roster bonuses ($312,500 each game) for this season, which was the largest ever in an NFL contract, because of Bradford's injury history. The per-game amount was payable only if Bradford was on the 46-man active roster for that particular game.Bradford didn't perform anything like he did in the 2017 season opener against the Saints, which earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week Luke Kornet Jersey honors. He was benched three games into the 2018 season for rookie , the 10th-overall pick. Bradford wasn't active on game day for the other five games he was with the Cardinals before his release in order to limit his roster bonus collection. Bradford made $15,937,500 for his eight-game stint with the Cardinals, where he was on the field for only 135 of Arizona's 942 offensive snaps (14.3 percent). He didn't sign with another after his release.Runners Up: , CB, ; , WR, ; , RB, Browns/Jaguars; , QB, Offensive Signing of the Year PIT TE # Thaddeus Young Jersey 85 Ebron signed a two-year, $13 million contract (worth up to $15 million through incentives) with Indianapolis after the released him in early March to prevent his $8.25 million 2018 fifth-year option from becoming fully guaranteed. The 2014 first-round pick had a much bigger role than anticipated because injuries to tight end , who played in last season's Pro Bowl, limited him to six games in 2018. Ebron set career highs of 66 catches, 750 receiving yards and 13 touchdown receptions, which were tied for the NFL's second most. His 14 total touchdowns were tied for fifth in the NFL. Ebron earned his first Pro Bowl berth this season.The may have opted to designate the 25 year old as a franchise player without a 2019 contract year in place. The 2019 tight end number is expected to be in the $10.5 million neighborhood. The four-year, $32 million contract (worth to $34.8 million with incentives) containing $22 million of guarantees received from the Bears during free agency probably would have been Ebron's salary floor if he were able to enter the open market in March.Runners Up: Drew Brees, QB, Saints; , WR, Defensive Signing of the Year BAL CB #23 Fuller validated Chicago's decision to match the four-year, $56 million offer sheet he signed with the after being designated a transition player for $12.971 million. He tied for the NFL lead with seven interceptions this season. Fuller paced a secondary that picked off an NFL-high 27 pa ses and held opposing quarterbacks to a league-low 72.9 pa ser rating. He was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time. Fuller has also been named a second-team All-Pro by Pro Football Focus (PFF). The offer sheet worked out to Chicago's advantage, rather than letting Fuller hit the open market or giving him a $14.975 million franchise tag. In either of those cases, a long-term deal likely would have had significantly more that $18 million fully guaranteed in the matched offer sheet. By contrast, , who signed the most lucrative free agent cornerback with the at $72.5 million for five years, had $34 million fully guaranteed Zach Norvell Jersey and $45 million in overall guarantees.Runner Up: , LB, SaintsBiggest Steal SEA RB #21 It took a season-ending knee injury to 2018 second-round pick for the to sign Peterson to a one-year contract at his $1.015 million league-minimum salary without any incentives late in the preseason. No other teams had expre sed serious interest in Peterson in the previous five months since free agency started. The a sumption was Peterson had very little gas left in the tank after two injury-plagued and unproductive seasons.The Redskins never imagined Peterson would have such a big offensive impact. The 33 year old became the oldest to rush for 1,000 yards during a season in 34 years while running behind an offensive line that was decimated by injuries. Peterson was one of eight running backs to crack the 1,000 yard mark this season. Peterson's 1,042 rushing yards were eighth in the NFL. Runner Up: , CB, ColtsBest Use of a Contract Year SF OLB #55 Ford follows in the footsteps of Cowboys defensive end , who won this award last season. He is an edge rusher who had a breakout season with an expiring contract following an injury-plagued year.Ford's six sacks and four forced fumbles in five October games helped him garner Shaquille Harrison Jersey AFC Defensive Player of the Month honors. His 78 quarterback pre sures were third in the NFL and first among edge rushers. Ford also tied for eighth in the NFL with a career high 13 sacks. The 2014 first round pick is a prime candidate for a franchise tag because his 2018 play is an outlier and the immense importance of players who