Chad Pennington, the quarterback for the New York Jets, secured a significant financial commitment from the team. He agreed to a seven-year contract extension worth $64 million, which included $23 million in guaranteed money.
A source familiar with the negotiations revealed that Pennington would earn an average of $9.172 million annually. The total value of Pennington's deal was $64.197 million.
Details of the Contract
- Total Value: $64.197 million
- Contract Length: Seven years
- Guaranteed Money: $23 million
- Average Annual Salary: $9.172 million
Pennington, entering his fifth season, also received the second-largest amount of up-front money, behind only Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who got a $34.5 million signing bonus earlier that year. Both of those contracts were negotiated by Tom Condon.
Timing and Motivation
Pennington had set a deadline of the end of the preseason for a new deal to be finalized. He did not want negotiations to stretch into the season, nor did the Jets, who didn't want to chance losing him as a free agent.
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Pennington, the 18th overall pick in the 2000 draft, had been the Jets' starter in only 23 games. He came off an injury-racked season, but in 2002 he replaced Vinny Testaverde as the starter a month into the schedule and led the Jets to the AFC East title. He also led the NFL in passing efficiency that season with a 104.2 rating, 3,120 yards, 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
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Last summer, he broke his wrist and hand in an exhibition game and was sidelined for two months. The Jets wound up 6-10.
Impact on the Jets
Pennington expressed optimism about the team's prospects, stating, "You're not looking at a team that thinks, or even knows, we were 6-10 last year. We've got an element of surprise in us. I don't know what we're capable of, but I know we have a chance. I feel like we have an opportunity to do something. There's a different feeling on and off the field, a different attitude, a different mind-set. There's a different focus, a hunger. There's a new energy about us."
The size of Pennington's deal could potentially impact the Jets in future negotiations with their own free agents. Defensive ends John Abraham and Shaun Ellis, tight end Anthony Becht, and running back LaMont Jordan were all in their final contract years at the time.
Pennington instructed his agent to make the new contract as salary cap friendly as possible, stating, "Tom knows how I feel about being a team player so we can keep players."
Still, with running back Curtis Martin, center Kevin Mawae and Pennington taking up huge chunks of the salary cap - and with receiver Santana Moss also looking for a new deal - keeping their players will be difficult for the Jets.
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Pennington's Career Stats
Pennington has started 37 of 44 regular season career games, has thrown 1,174 career passes, completing 767 of them, for 8,621 yards with 55 touchdowns and 30 interceptions for a career passer rating of 92.1. Pennington owns the highest career passer rating in franchise history, the highest completion percentage (65.3), has thrown for the fifth-most passing yardage, attempted the sixth-most passes, and owns the best touchdown-to-interception ratio (1.83-to-one) in team annals. He has compiled a record of 21-16 as the Jets' starting quarterback (.568 winning percentage), which is the highest-winning percentage ever among starting quarterbacks in team history, and owns a 2-2 record in the postseason.
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