• Technically, there's no guaranteed money in the contract. Sheppard will make $3 million this season, the same he would've made with the Eagles.
• In March, 2010, there's a $10 million option bonus. If the Jets decide to pay it, a new four-year, $27.2 million kicks in.
• If Sheppard is injured and misses considerable time, the Jets can get out of the deal after one year and they wouldn't owe the Eagles a draft pick in 2010. If that's the case, all it would've cost them is a fifth-round pick in the '09 draft. One person familiar with the deal said it could amount to a "one-year test drive" for the Jets.
• The conditional pick in '10 can rise to a second-rounder, but only if he hits an 85% playing-time plateau AND receives the four-year extension. And if that does happen, the Jets would get a fifth-rounder back from the Eagles.
• If Sheppard makes 85%, but doesn't receive the extension, the Jets would owe a third-rounder to the Eagles and would recoup a fifth rounder.
• Obviously, there are a number of different scenarios, and I won't bore you with them, but this is the essence of the trade. Bottom line: If Sheppard stinks, it'll be a one-year deal for $3 million and would cost them a fifth-round pick. If he becomes a full-time starter, the Jets probably will have to give up a second- or third-rounder in addition to this year's fifth and they'll have to pay him roughly what this year's top cornerback free agents (the Colts' Kelvin Hayden and the Ravens' Domonique Foxworth) received on their just-signed deals.
