Here's Marion Barber's contract breakdown:

5/20/2008: Signed a seven-year, $45 million contract. The deal contains $16 million guaranteed, including a $12 million signing bonus. 2010: $3.86 million (+ $4 million roster bonus due in March), 2011: $4.25 million, 2012: $5.75 million, 2013: $6.25 million, 2014: $7 million, 2015: Free Agent

from an agent / players point of view, why should Pierre expect anything less than this? ....bare in mind too, he's coming back to a team fresh off a super bowl win as a the most productive player right behind their star QB.... something Barber has never had to bring to the table.

I personally like to compare Barber's contract, because I think the numbers are about right, and Barber is about as close of a comparison you can find in the NFL to Pierre by way of productivity, value to team, playing style, accountability, consistency, intensity, etc....

I also think it's jaded to not look around the league and find comparable players to Pierre, see what they're landing as far as contracts and assume Pierre could pursue the same.

All I see here is folks finding the most productive RB's in the league, on teams that otherwise have little value in other players than their overworked star RB's therefor hand out blank checks to their star RB's to keep them happy and their dwindling fans happy as they struggle to compete... so commit to sell tickets with their presence... but fail to see that there are other RB's equivalent to Pierre's productivity and value that ARE under contracts similar to what he's pursuing.