To keep Daryl Washington around, a future Pro Bowl inside linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals, the fans and the team were going to give him any dollar figure he could dream up. After all, they did give an unproven 3-4 linebacker in Stewart Bradley an average of $5 million per season last year.

Now, Washington is locked up through the 2017 season after signing a 6-year deal with the team. But how does his contract add up? Mike Jurecki from XTRA 910 has the details.

Here's how it breaks down:

Daryl Washington base salaries 2012 $2.5, 2013 $2.4, 2014 $2.9, 2015 $3.4, 2016 $4.4 & 2017 $4.4 million, bonus in 2014.. #AzCards

— Mike Jurecki (@mikejurecki) September 10, 2012

At first sight, it looks like a bargain for a deal. Arguably the best player on the defense is only making $4.4 million per year at the latter end of his contract? Sign me up.

But if you dig a little deeper...

#Cards Daryl Washington received 2.5 to sign and has bonus due 10 million next yr, Az bumped his base salaries to 2.5 in 2012 & 2.4 in 2013.

— Mike Jurecki (@mikejurecki) September 10, 2012

It seems that the Cardinals are going o pay out most of his deal through bonuses. Since they come early on, Washington is likely to see all of that money. In exchange, he took lower base salaries to help the Cardinals' cap situation.

Obviously, we should all be huge fans of this deal. The Cardinals were able to lock up a cornerstone of their defense for a fair price and he won't be crippling their cap every year.

This is a win-win for both sides.

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