I saw a question about Antoine Winfield’s “de-escalator” that was included in his contract extension earlier this year.  Since there seems to be some confusion, I wanted to take a moment to clear it up.

Winfield signed a contract extension that will help ensure he stays a Vikings until the 2013 season.  The “de-escalator” is an unique mechanism contained within Winfield’s contract.

The mechanism is triggered no earlier than the 2011 season.  If he is relegated to the nickle job in 2011, then his salary for the following season (roughly $7 million) would be cut in half.

He also has the opportunity to get the second half of that money back if he is promoted back into the starting lineup. 

The mechanism was a creative compromise to a crossroads that the Vikings were facing with Winfield.  At age 32, the Vikings are now guarded against having an older player, with possibly diminishing skills, on the payroll for much more than he is currently worth.

The mechanism is also positive for Winfield, as when his skills diminish, the Vikings will not be forced to cut him and he, in turn, will not be a 35 year old corner charged with the daunting task of finding employment.

So, to answer the question from the comments section, neither the Vikings nor Winfield will benefit at all from him finishing this season as a nickle back.  Once healthy, there is no doubt that he will be placed back into the starting lineup.

The Vikings will, however, have an extra incentive to find another top-notch cornerback fairly soon.  They want to have two young and talented guys on the roster prior to 2011 so that they are in a position to take advantage of the clever mechanism.

Knowing that they could save $3.5 million in 2011 by finding another elite cornerback is kind of a built-in incentive to encourage themselves to improve the secondary.