Once Again, True Value and Breakdown Tanner Vallejo Contract

Brace yourself for this breaking news: The contract agreed to by Cardinals inside linebacker Tanner Vallejo does not have a base value of $4.1 million over two years as originally reported last week.

AllCardinals has learned the details of the special-teams standout’s contract and the actual value is $3.3 million. The deal does include annual $400,000 play-time incentives, which if reached would increase the total to $4.1 million.

The specifics of the incentives are not known, but they are likely linked to defensive snaps of which he had 96 (nine percent) last season.

On special teams, Vallejo was on the field for 65 percent of the snaps and he tied for the team lead with Ezekiel Turner with 15 tackles (seven solo). On defense, he totaled 16 tackles (12 solo) with one sack.

In our original story about his contract agreement, it was noted that his 2020 base salary was “likely worth not much more than the minimum $990,000 this season for a player with four credited seasons.”

That turned out exactly to be the case. His base salary is $990,000 this year and $1.5 million in 2022. The $3.3 million total also includes a $500,000 signing bonus and per-game bonuses $150,000 this year for being on the active roster ($9,375 per game) and $160,000 ($10,000 per game) in 2022.

The cap charge for Vallejo will be $1.39 million this year, which accounts for his base salary, prorated signing bonus ($250,000) and the roster bonus. The latter counts against the cap because he played all 16 games last season making the incentive likely to be earned.

If Vallejo plays less than 16 games, the difference between the games he plays and 16 would be credited to the Cardinals cap in 2022.