Linebacker Chad Greenway will stay at the Vikings this coming season after agreeing to take a pay cut.
ESPN’s Field Yates reports that Greenway’s base salary for 2015 – the final year of his contract – was due to be $7 million, but he has agreed to this being reduced to $3.4 million. He will receive a guaranteed $1 million and can make an extra $600,000 in bonuses.
Greenway would have counted for $8.8 million against the Vikings’ salary cap, but the new deal will free up just over $3.2 million in cap space, Yates said.
1500 ESPN had previously reported that Greenway was one of several players that the Vikings would be asking to restructure their contracts in order to remain with the team.
Vikings GM Rick Spielman said earlier this month that he wanted the 32-year-old to finish his career in Minnesota.
A South Dakota native, he was drafted in the first round by the Vikings in 2006, and led the franchise in tackles for six consecutive seasons.
He struggled with injury this past year though, limiting his appearances, but still finished second on the team with 93 tackles in just 12 games in 2014.
NBC Sports says that Greenway “isn’t the same player he was when he signed his previous contract,” and says he’ll now be making a salary “more commensurate with where he is, late in his career.”
