In a column highlighting players that may be in line for a contract extension, Jim Bowden of ESPN projects that Bryce Harper could receive a $400-plus million deal from the Washington Nationals.

Harper isn't eligible for arbitration until 2017 and can't become a free agent until after the 2018 season.

"If the Nationals have any hope of signing Harper long-term and keeping him a National for life, it probably must happen this spring," Bowden writes. "They'd also have to be willing to make him the highest-paid player in baseball history, with the longest term and highest dollar amount we've ever seen; if they're not willing to, they might as well not even call [Scott] Boras."

Bowden projects that Harper could receive a 14-year, $407 million deal.