Classic case of not having to work yourself up to a major market -- by virtue of the DC area being his home. If he had to take the traditional route, think his upside would've been - to use the Nats system as analogy - Harrisburg. But, then, I grew up in NYC in the heyday of newspapers back in the 50s and early 60s where each of the five daily papers had great writers.
In signing writers, does The Athletic "approach" reporters in cities around the country, or vice versa? If it's the former, would've thought maybe they would shoot higher. Also, I imagine the salaries paid by The Athletic vary wildly -- maybe with a Ken Rosenthal and a GP getting paid vastly different amounts.