The short-lived Tim Tebow contract: What was the Jaguars tight end's salary in Jacksonville?
Tim Tebow has been one of the storylines of Week 1 of the NFL preseason. The quarterback turned tight end (yeah, I don't get it either) had a block attempt go viral in what essentially turned out to be the climax of his comeback.
Those looking for closure to the story may be wondering what his salary was supposed to be in Jacksonville. Here's a look at what his contract was and if he made any money from the failed experiment in Jacksonville.
Tim Tebow's bottom line
As far as contracts go, it does not get much cheaper in the NFL. Tim Tebow was signed to a one-year deal that expired at the end of the 2021 NFL season. In 2022, without action from Tebow and the Jaguars, he would have become a free agent.
Tebow was expected to make only $920,000 in the 2021 campaign, according to Spotrac. There were no incentives in his contract, nor a signing bonus. It was essentially as basic as an NFL contract could get.
Lastly, there was no dead money which allowed the Jaguars to cut Tim Tebow without a second thought. When the Jaguars cut the QB-turned-tight-end, they didn't have to pay a dime.
How did Tebow's salary compare to other tight ends on the team?
Tebow's salary would have used about 0.5 percent of the Jaguars' salary cap. The highest-paid tight end on the team is Chris Manhertz. His contract runs through the 2022 season and comes with all the bells and whistles that veteran contracts usually have.
It has a dead cap, workout bonus, roster bonus and a signing bonus. His workout bonus is $200,000 while his roster bonus is $300,000. His signing bonus in 2021 alone was bigger than Tim Tebow's entire contract, earning him $1.125 million. The contract also includes a base salary of $1 million.
Of course, Chris Manhertz is likely a name most NFL fans have never heard of, but his contract dwarfs Tim Tebow's deal, which shows just how low-risk the whole Tebow experiment was for the Jacksonville Jaguars.