ESPN NFL

It took months of negotiations, dozens of meetings with proposals heaped upon counterproposals, a few hundred faxes and, of course, a lot of money, to complete the lucrative contract extension that New England Patriots star defensive lineman Richard Seymour signed this week.

But mostly it took the creativity of people on both sides of the negotiating table, perhaps even more so than cash, to consummate an extension nearly two years in the making.

The extension, first reported by ESPN.com on Wednesday afternoon, is for three years, not four, and runs through the 2009 season. Seymour had one season remaining on the original rookie contract he signed as a first-round draft choice in 2001 and, coupled with the extension, that created a four-year deal. In terms of so-called "new money," a term that represents the total value of the contract minus the money Seymour was already due under his existing deal, the numbers are staggering and so are the guarantees.

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