Here are the facts as reported by Kevin Acee of the Union Tribune and Scott Bair of the North County Times. Eric Weddle has agree to a contract of $40M over 5 years. He will get $19M guaranteed. He will get $13M in the form of a signing bonus. He will earn $1M in salary for the first year (2011). The three year value of the deal is $25M. This is what I've read without doing any extra math or interpreting any rules.

So, the next part is to break it down based on the language used and some basic addition and subtraction. The term "guaranteed" refers to the money that the team has to pay the player. According to league rules this involves the signing bonus plus the salaries of the first 3 years of the contract. Now, since the value of the "guaranteed" money is $19M, but the 3 year value is $25M something is off. This is because the 3rd year of the contract is only guaranteed against injury. If a team cuts a player for reasons not related to an injury (i.e. if they stink or cost too much) then that money does not get paid. So, it seems that what gets reported as "guaranteed" is the first 2 years of salary plus the signing bonus. The difference between the "first 3 years" value and the "guaranteed" value is the 3rd year salary.

Here's how the math works out:

• Signing bonus: $13M (as reported)
• 2011 Salary: $1M (as reported)
• 2012 Salary: $5M ($19M guaranteed - $13M signing bonus - $1M 2011 salary)
• 2013 Salary: $6M ($25M 3 year value - $19M guaranteed)
• 2014 & 2015 Salaries (plus any roster bonuses): $7.5M average ($40M total value - $25M 3 year value = $15M then divide that over 2 years)