An NFL Player Has Gone Weeks Without Cashing His $15 Million Signing Bonus Check

Every once in a while we're reminded that professional athletes sometimes get paid vast sums of money in the form of a plain old check.

The latest example comes from Patrick Peterson of the Arizona Cardinals, who has been in possession of an uncashed $15,361,000 check for weeks, according to SI's Peter King.

Here's the anecdote from King's MMQB column:

"Patrick Peterson signed a five-year, $70 million contract extension on July 29, with a signing bonus of $15,361,000. The bonus came in a lump-sum check, not direct-deposited.

"He has not cashed the bonus check yet.

"He told me, 'I just haven't gotten around to it.'"

In his defense, Peterson has been at training camp for all of August.

This is his first contract since signing his rookie deal in 2011. He'll make $11.6 million in base salary when the extension kicks in next season - more than double the $4.6 million/year salary he made under his rookie contract.

Peterson is probably the most famous athlete to carry around uncashed checks since Manny Ramirez, who famously let $978,000 bi-weekly checks pile up in his locker when he played for Boston.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. recently gave us a lot at what one of these checks look like. It turns out they're similar to the checks you send your landlord, just with a bunch more zeros. Floyd's last two fight checks: