Antoine Winfield's New Contract and the NFL's Unique Standard of Loyalty

In one sense, the NFL's non-guaranteed contract structure makes for the harshest send-offs in any professional sport.

A basketball, baseball, or hockey star may be locked in for tens of millions over multiple years, even as he begins to fade.

In most cases, players who fit that description and still have two working legs are guaranteed a roster spot as well, if only because their clubs are hesitant to pay them not to play.

In those sports, loyalty means giving a player a long-term deal that will almost certainly pay him more than he's worth late in his career. It's unlikely that Kevin Garnett will be a $21 million talent at age 36, for instance, or that Alex Rodriguez will be worth $27 million at 41.

But for NBA and MLB clubs, overpaying for those twilight seasons is standard operating procedure.

Football players enjoy no such long goodbyes: When an aging gridiron warrior's salary outstrips his value, he's simply cut loose.

It happens to record-setting quarterbacks (Daunte Culpepper), MVP rushers (Shaun Alexander), and defensive studs (Derrick Brooks). One season, you're lining up under center in Honolulu; the next, you're lining up to collect unemployment benefits.

As far as personnel decisions go, "loyalty" is practically a four-letter word. Like I said, harsh.

From another perspective, however, the NFL's economic model lets teams take care of their own in a unique fashion: Write 'em a big check up front.

It's a lousy system for compensating high draft picks, who collect eight-figure bonuses before taking a snap. But it's a great way to reward veterans who can still play at a high level without putting the franchise on the hook for a burdensome contract down the road.

Case in point: the extension the Minnesota Vikings hammered out last week with cornerback Antoine Winfield.

A 2004 free agent signee from Buffalo, Winfield holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Vikings fans as one of a handful of acquisitions that helped Minnesota end a long spell as a defensive whipping boy.

Last year, he became the first Vikings cornerback to make the Pro Bowl in 16 years, with two picks, two sacks, four forced fumbles, and a fumble return for a touchdown.

He's tough. He's popular. He's gotten better every season since coming to Minnesota.

He's also 32 and heading into a contract year. In cornerback years, that's the beginning of the end. Deion Sanders retired (for the first time) at 33. Rod Woodson transitioned to safety at 34. Among active players, Champ Bailey qualifies as an elder statesman at the position—and he's 31.

In another sport, Winfield's situation would put the front office in the "lose him now or regret paying him later" bind described above.

In football, no such dilemma exists. The Vikings can reward Winfield for his services with a cool $16 million in guaranteed cash without hitching the team's wagon to his long-term health.

Who knows if Winfield will still be productive at 36, in the final year of his five-year, $36 million extension—and moreover, who cares? Minnesota's financial obligations to him go no further than the deal's bonus money.

The size of the bonus itself has not been reported, but the more of the $16 million that goes to Winfield up front (roster bonuses, first-year-salary, and other fine points of the deal), the less the Vikings will owe if and when they're no longer interested in his services.

If he's still humming a few seasons down the road, that's fantastic. If not, the team can shift him to nickel back after 2011 at a reduced price (an innovative feature of his extension) or part ways with him outright.

Winfield won't be thrilled if he gets cut, of course. Nobody likes to be out of a job (or at that point, what could be a career).

But thanks to his new deal, he won't be broke either.

For the NFL club, that's about as loyal as it gets.