Titans sign Michael Griffin to five-year, $35M deal

The Tennessee Titans locked up Michael Griffin on Tuesday announcing a long-term deal with the safety. Griffin, who was previously franchise, agreed to a five-year, $35 million deal according to CBSSports.com's Jason LaCanfora.

By Will Brinson

Jun 19, 2012 at 4:31 pm ET • 1 min read

On Tuesday Michael Griffin became the latest franchised player to sign a long-term deal, as the Titans announced a new five-year contract with the safety. Sources tell CBSSports.com's Jason LaCanfora that the deal is for five years and is worth $35 million with $15 million guaranteed.

Additionally, LaCanfora reports that the deal could reach $36 million with incentives.

Griffin was tagged by the Titans back on March 5 and since then has hardly had a peep come out about whether or not he's happy with the franchise tag, even though he never actually signed the deal. The Titans clearly appreciated his quiet public behavior and are now rewarding Griffin.

"Michael is a talented and successful young player for us," Titans general manager Ruston Webster said in a statement released by the team. "The goal is to keep a core of talented young players together and let them grow, and Griffin fits in that group. He showed a great deal of professionalism in how he dealt with this situation, and he is invested in making this team better."

Griffin was a somewhat surprising choice this offseason for the Titans tag -- they let cornerback Cortland Finnegan walk in free agency and used the tag on Griffin. (Finnegan's cool with it too; he signed a monster $50 million deal with his old buddy Jeff Fisher in St. Louis.)

According to ProFootballFocus.com, Griffin graded out as the 14th-best safety in 2011. Griffin, a first-round pick in 2007 out of Texas (19th overall) has 17 interceptions in five years and has played in all 32 of the team's games the last two seasons, providing a steady presence in the defensive backfield.

Via La Canfora's source, here's the breakdown of Griffin's contract:

$9.000M signing bonus

2012 -- $2.500M base salary guaranteed for skill, injury and cap

2013 -- $3.500M base guaranteed for injury, skill and cap on 5th year of league year. $1m roster bonus due on 15th day of league year

2014 -- $6.200M base

2015 -- $6.300M base

2016 -- $6.500M base

Can reach a $400,000 incentive if he makes two Pro Bowls in the first four years of the deal and $1m if he reaches three Pro Bowls in that span.