"The Chicago Cubs agreed to a contract Sunday with fifth-round draft pick Jeff Samardzija of Notre Dame, a star wide receiver for the Fighting Irish football team," reports ESPN. "Samardzija's deal is for five years and worth up to $7.25 million . . . . The deal is backloaded and Samrdzija would have to continue to play baseball in order to approach the maximum value of the contract."

The Cubs took a risk with Samrdzija and have now gauranteed him the money to back up that risk. We likely won't know whether he was worth the risk for a couple of years, at least.

UPDATE (6/25/2006 12:25am): Uh, nevermind. The Chicago Tribune reports: "Baseball America reported Samardzija and the Cubs had agreed to a $7.25 million bonus spread over five years, with the bulk of the money backloaded toward the end of the contract. But the complicated deal never was completed, and the Cubs and Samardzija's agent apparently opted for a simpler contract at less money and years." The Trib doesn't say what the new deal is, except that he got a $250K signing bonus.