When superstars sign long-term backloaded contracts, teams rarely keep them around long enough to cash in on the lion’s share of the cash. For instance, if Player X signs a 5 year $50 million dollar contract, he won’t receive as much money in years 1 and 2, but will receive lots of money in years 4 or 5. The problem is most teams will ask him to restructure the deal, or simply release him before he gets to the latter years.

Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison are on the latter half of their contracts, and therefore they will receive boatloads of money in 2009, which puts the Indianapolis Colts in a tough position. Peyton counts for 21.2 million against the cap, while Marvin counts for 13.4 mil. We all know Marvin Harrison has lost a step and isn’t worth that much money, but do you think the colts will release him if he refuses to restructure? This will only matter if Marvin chooses not to retire (he should).

What about Peyton Manning though? According to Pro Football Talk he accounts for almost 20 percent of the teams total salary. I know he just won an MVP award and all, but I can’t recall one player actually making this much money in a year without his team pitching a fit.