Kicker Matt Prater to be Paid Less in 2021 than Zane Gonzalez Made Last Season

There are often varying ways to analyze the contracts NFL players sign, especially those involved in the yearly free-agent frenzy.

Yet, there is one interesting angle to the deal kicker Matt Prater agreed to with the Cardinals Wednesday. The long-time veteran will actually be paid less in 2021 than former kicker Zane Gonzalez was paid last season.

Coming off a 2019 season in which Gonzalez hit 31 of his 35 field-goal attempts (although 24-for-25 of that was from 20-39 yards), the Cardinals elected to tender him at a restricted free-agent level of $3.259 million that carried with it a second-round draft pick as compensation if another team had made an offer that the Cardinals would have decided not to match.

It turned out to be money not well spent, as Gonzalez came up short (literally against Miami) in critical situations.

Prater’s two-year $6.5 million deal averages virtually the same as what Gonzalez was paid in 2020 and his 2021 compensation will be $2.925 million by virtue of a $1.85 million signing bonus and $1.075 million base salary.

His total guaranteed money is $3.775 million, but $850,000 of that from his 2022 base salary of $3.575 million is guaranteed only for injury at signing. It will become fully guaranteed if he is on the Cardinals’ roster on the fifth day of the 2022 league year.

Most important is the salary-cap charge, which is a mere $2 million this year accounting for the base salary and one year of prorated signing bonus, which is $925,000.

During the two years, he can also make up to $500,000 in incentives for a combination of field-goal percentage and Pro Bowl selection.

Those are considered not likely to be earned and don’t against this year’s cap because the field-goal bonus is surely linked to a percentage higher than the 75.0 percent he converted last season.

Incentives are labeled likely to be earned or not likely to be earned based on the player’s statistics from the season before or what his team achieved. A likely-to-be-earned incentive counts against that year’s cap and the team receives a credit for the next year if it isn’t reached.

Conversely, a not-likely-to-be-earned incentive isn’t charged against that year’s cap, but would count the next year if the player reached it.