Potentially shocking news out of Bengals camp - is Domata Peko now the highest paid DT in the league? As briefly reported in the Enquirer and on Bengals.com, the Bengals gave Peko a 5 year, $29.3M contract extension, a base salary of $5.86M per year.
According to the USA Today, this base salary would make Peko the highest paid DT in the NFL, based on 2007 figures.
Peko's agent says that his client's new salary puts him in the top 10 for all defensive lineman. However, WDR has not seen anything that compares Peko's new contract to other DTs.
Maybe instead of covering the Chad Johnson soap opera, local media could shed some light on this story. The Bengals might have just made Peko the highest paid DT in football. The same Peko who has 4 sacks in 2 years, and according to WDR calculations, was the 29th ranked DT in 2007 (adding together combined tackles, sacks, FF, and assists).
The Bengals' argument is that they are locking up Peko for the next five years when top DTs are at a premium. Perhaps. But it is suspicious when the team worked to secure a free agent DT all offseason, and then upon failing, signing a lynchpin in the 21st ranked run defense at perhaps the top salary at his position in the league.
At the very least, the Bengals claim that they are at a disadvantage because of Cincinnati's small market is laughable. Big money contracts to Carson, Willie, Chad (yes Chad, it's true), Odom and Levi prove that the team has the resources - it just depends on where they decide to spend them.
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