When a player signs an extension before his contract expires, one of the concerns is that he might be selling him short in the future to earn more immediate security. This is something that came up recently when analyzing the contract signed by tight end Rob Gronkowski.
With this in mind, recent developments around the NFL show that Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski did well with his contract extension from August of 2010.
On Monday, the Broncos announced that Matt Prater signed a four-year extension that the Denver Post reports was for $13 million.
In May, the Buccaneers locked up kicker Connor Barth with a four-year extension that the Tampa Bay Times reports was for $13.2 million.
Gostkowski's deal could be viewed through two different lenses when computing the average-salary-per-year of the deal, which is why the Post ($3.4 million) and Times ($3.15 million) have different calculations. The Post looked solely at the four-year extension part of the contract (2011-2014), which was tacked on to his 2010 restricted free-agent tender, while the Times factored in complete contract (2010-2014).
Either way, two years later, Gostkowski's deal holds up well in the ever-evolving NFL market.
Furthermore, when considering Gostkowski had his 2010 season cut short due to injury -- which could have affected negotiations on an extension had the sides waited on talks until after the 2010 campaign -- it also strengthens the pact from his perspective.