With the Giants’ decision on Plaxico Burress complete for now, so are the numbers and salary involved that he stands to lose over the final four games of the season.

Scheduled to make $3.29 million in base salary, Burress will lose $193,000 in paychecks the next four weeks — by my math a total of $772,000. He will also lose $400,000 in bonuses he was scheduled to make — $100,000 for each game in which he was active.

Together, that’s $1.172 million in lost wages that he would have earned simply for being active in the last four games.

Burress has also provided a window for the Giants to pursue $850,000 in signing bonus money the team paid him this season, and $2 million more in bonus money from his original 2005 contract. By suspending him again, the Giants are entitled to the full $850,000 in pro-rated signing bonus from this year, because the second time a player is suspended he gives back the full amount of the pro-rated bonus for the year.

Some NFL executives even believe there could be, depending on a number of factors, millions more that the Giants could recoup from Burress. However it breaks down, Burress is now going to have to wage one battle with the legal system, another with the NFL to avoid an additional suspension, and still another with the Giants over monies paid.

Clear to say, guns don’t pay.

Posted in: Adam Schefter  | comments  |