Just a few posts earlier I mentioned some recent quotes from cornerback Antoine Winfield and briefly touched on his unique contract de-escalator.
Tom Peliissero of 1500 ESPN is now reporting that Winfield’s lack of playing time in 2011 will trigger the de-escalator for the 2012 season, lowering his base salary from $7 million to $3 million.
This should help the Vikings cap situation in an upcoming offense that will require plenty of money being spent to try and turn the organization around.
There is a chance, however, that Winfield can reach incentive based benchmarks and earn back the $4 million over the course of the season. Those incentives are largely based on playing time. If he earns those incentives, they will be paid to Winfield the following season.