A look at Zach Collaros’ contract
Published: Tuesday, Feb 26th 2019, 5:02pm
By: Stephen Safinuk (@Safimod)
On the weekend, contract information for Zach Collaros was leaked out by Rob Vanstone and 3 Down Nation. Before we start digging in to it, let’s take a look at what those numbers will look like (Numbers courtesy of 3 Down Nation)
Guaranteed Money
Base Salary: $115,000
Housing: $20,000
Signing Bonus: $175,000
Total without bonuses: $310,000
Potential Bonuses
Playing 51% of offensive snaps per game: $5,555 per game (Maximum of $100,000)
6/9/12 Games Played Bonus: $5000/marker (Maximum of $15,000)
Total potential bonuses: $115,000
Now with the particulars of the contract out of the way, let’s take a look at the good and bad of that deal.
Bad
The obvious negative with this contract is the signing bonus. Given Zach Collaros’ injury history over the last few seasons, especially head injury overs last season, it’s a risk to put that kind of money on the cap without knowing if he will see the field for a full season. Having said that, there is no way Zach Collaros agrees to a 300,000
Good
Its much easier to pick out the good things related to this contract. For one, outside of the signing bonus, there is minimal risk in this deal for the Roughriders. Should they lose Collaros to an injury (knee/head/etc) they are well protected against the cap.
Should he perform well enough to keep the starting job for the entire season, $425,000 is a good deal in this league for a starting QB, but if he manages to find the magic that he had prior to his knee injury, the Riders will have a steal on their hands. Should he not perform out of the gates and get replaced by the likes of Fajardo, Watford or whomever else the Riders might find, the Riders will have themselves a $315,000 veteran backup, which certainly isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Overall Thoughts
In the end, the Riders were always going to end up with either Jonathon Jennings or Zach Collaros. If one had to pick between the two, Collaros makes more sense. He knows the system and has built a rapport with several members of the receiving corps. Both players are risks, but its almost always better to go with the devil you know. At between $300,000 and $425,000 the Riders are much better able to build a team around him than they would had they signed Bo Levi Mitchell to an $800,000 contract. If her performs well this year, he will come back looking for a raise. If he falters, the Riders know they will need to look elsewhere for the Grey Cup year in 2020.
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