Maybe the best free agent DT to be. H would have been an RFA
CARDS START SPENDING CAP ROOM
The Arizona Cardinals have commenced the process of burning up cap room by signing defensive tackle Darnell Dockett to a five-year extension with $7 million in bonuses paid between now and March 2007. Per a league source, the contract has recently been completed and will be formally announced in the near future.
In order to chew up some remaining 2006 cap space, Dockett gets a roster bonus of $3.5 million within the next few days. He gets another $3.5 million roster bonus on the first day of the 2007 league year.
Under the new contract, Dockett also is scheduled to receive salaries of $510,000 in 2007, $3.25 million in 2008, $3.5 million in 2009, $3.75 million in 2010, and $4 million in 2011. His salary for 2006 of $425,000 is unchanged by the new contract.
The total value of the contract is $22 million over five years.
Dockett was a third-round draft pick of the Cardinals in 2004. He signed a three-year rookie contract, and would have been a restricted free agent in March. Assuming that the Cardinals would have given him the first-round tender of $1.8 million, which would have required a new team signing him to a long-term deal to give up a first-round draft pick in exchange, Dockett's deal is worth $20.2 million over five years in additional money.
We're also hearing that the Cardinals are in the process of extending more of their current players, in an effort to use up their current cap space. Under the new CBA, both the salary cap and the salary floor have gone up considerably, and past published reports have indicated that the Cardinals will have a huge cap surplus for 2007.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
