ESPN insider: Arizona Cardinals should wait to give Patrick Peterson new deal

Cornerbacks around the NFL are getting fat contracts.

Seattle’s Richard Sherman got a new four-year, $57 million contract that will give him $40 million guaranteed.

The Cleveland Browns followed that by rewarding cornerback Joe Haden with a five-year, $68 million deal that brings $45 million in guaranteed money.

Arizona Cardinals, you’re up.

Patrick Peterson, who is entering his fourth season in the league, could/should be the next cornerback to receive a new deal, even though he’s got two years (one year, plus a 2015 option) remaining on his rookie deal signed in 2011. There is speculation that Peterson’s new contract could be worth more than Sherman’s or Haden’s.

But John Clayton of ESPN thinks it might be awhile before Peterson gets his deal, because of where and when he was drafted.

“I think you know how this is going to go for the 2011 draft choices with maybe one exception, that being J.J. Watt, is that they’re not going to get paid until sometime next year,” Clayton told Doug and Wolf Thursday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “Because that’s where the market’s going to be.”

First-round picks in 2011, like Peterson, typically received four year contracts with an option year for a fifth. Sherman was also a 2011 draft pick, but went in the fifth round. Haden was a first-round pick in 2010, before the new collective bargaining agreement was reached.

“One of the things with that option year is you have that fifth year and if you can wait, you can also use the franchise tag, if necessary,” Clayton said, before throwing another wrinkle into the discussion.

“Remember, Peterson may come in over Richard Sherman because it depends on what happens with Darrelle Revis,” he said. “Revis’ contract is up and he will try to top Sherman.

“Probably the best thing to do is wait. I know that Patrick would probably like to get a deal. I still think that Sherman has the slight edge,” Clayton said. “When you’re talking about Revis, Sherman and Patrick Peterson, I think you’re talking about the three best cornerbacks in the league.”

Reports have circulated that the Cardinals are negotiating with Peterson’s camp on a deal that could be in the neighborhood of $60 million. Conventional thinking tells you that if Arizona chooses to wait to lock up their three-time Pro Bowler, the price would go up. Clayton doesn’t think that’s necessarily the case.

“There’s only one guy that can probably pull the price up in that position and that’s going to be Revis,” he said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily going to change.”

Revis was cut by Tampa Bay in the offseason and signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the New England Patriots for 2014.

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