Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Breaking down Dan Orlovsky's contract

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions didn't appear to want to spend a lot of money on a backup quarterback -- something that became obvious once the team let Shaun Hill go to St. Louis.

And in signing veteran Dan Orlovsky, the Lions were able to bring in an experienced player for relatively little money for a quarterback.

Orlovsky's one-year contract with Detroit has a cap number of $635,000 and a base salary of $855,000. He also received a $65,000 signing bonus and $60,000 of his base salary is also guaranteed.

So that'll give him a total of $125,000 in guaranteed money no matter what happens this season.

"It’s good to be back," Orlovsky said Monday. "Truthfully, when I knew free agency was going to come, I had a good talk with my agent and expressed my desire that this had to be near the top of my list so it’s obviously a unique story and cool story to come back near the back end of my career, where it all started for me."

Orlovsky, who was drafted by Detroit in the fifth round in 2005, spent the past two seasons in Tampa Bay. In his career, he has completed 276 of 472 passes for 2,931 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His most playing time came in 2008, when he played in 10 games for the Lions, and in 2011, when he appeared in eight games with Indianapolis, then coached by Jim Caldwell.

The Lions' other signing last week, offensive tackle J.B. Shugarts, received a one-year contract at $420,000 with no bonuses and no signing bonus.

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