In response to our story regarding the inability of teams at the top of the draft to guarantee money in the sixth year of rookie contracts after the unanimous opt-out vote by NFL owners last week, a league source tells us that Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan received an actual guarantee upon signing his contract of only $27.3 million, not the $34.75 million that previously has been reported.

The difference comes from the so-called “log” bonus, which is short for “falling off a log,” which means that the guy gets the money for not doing anything other than achieving minimum playing time, presumably in any year of the deal.  (The most notable exception in this regard was Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, whose “log” bonus could have been triggered in his rookie year only, and who failed to reach the 30-percent trigger in his rookie year of 2004 because he broke a leg while playing special teams early in the season.)

Ryan’s guarantee comes from a rookie pool number for Ryan in the amount of $2.8 million.  For 2008, he receives the minimum base salary of $295,000, and the rest of the $2.8 million is paid out via a roster bonus of $2.505 million, with no signing bonus.

Under the CBA, Ryan’s contract is permitted to grow each year by 25 percent of the first-year salary, which based on $2.8 million is $700,000.  Thus, the calculation is simple at this point; for each successive year, the number increases by 700 large.

For 2009, Ryan gets a guaranteed salary of $3.5 million.  For 2010, he receives $4.2 million.  For 2011, the number is $4.9 million.  In 2012, Ryan’s number is $5.6 million.  Finally, he receives $6.3 million guaranteed in 2013.

Adding it all up, it’s $27.3 million.

For Rams defensive end Chris Long, the absence of a sixth-year guarantee means that his maximum guarantee (assuming a rookie pool number of $2.9 million) will be $21.75 million.  At a higher rookie pool amount of $3 million (which would cut into what the Rams can pay its other rookies in 2008 by $100,000), Long’s maximum guarantee at signing is $22.5 million.

Of course, Long can get more via the “log” bonus.  But it’s not truly a guarantee at signing because there’s a chance that neither Long nor Ryan will participate in at least 30 percent of the snaps on their respective sides of the ball in any year of the deal.