Just answered my own question with this article.



Lance Franklin's extraordinary nine-year, $10 million contract offer to join Sydney will see him paid a relatively low amount in his first years at the club while Kurt Tippett's sizeable contract tapers down.

The Swans are understood to have stretched the Franklin contract over nine years and structured it with relatively lower payments in the early years to allow them to afford Franklin and Tippett.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...#ixzz2gWcUyNxW