Building an NFL roster is like a high-stakes game of chess—except the pieces cost millions of dollars, and one bad move can haunt a team for years. Because of the salary cap – building an NFL roster is not a simple process. There are 53 slots, one of which, the NFL quarterback, almost by default, eats up a huge portion of the contract money that a team has to spend.
This means that all it takes is one or two bad contracts to really put a team behind the eight-ball when it comes to building out their squad.
Let’s take a look around the current landscape of the NFL and see if we can pick out the ten worst contracts in the league today.
Which players currently have the worst contracts in the NFL?
Kirk Cousins, QB, Atlanta Falcons – 4 years, $180 million
Let’s kick things off with Kirk Cousins.
Now, I get it—Atlanta was desperate for a quarterback as it gets… The Desmond Ridder experiment was a nightmare… and they had talented skill position players all over that roster that were simply wasting away… to his credit—Cousins has been a reliable starter throughout his career.
But giving a 36-year-old quarterback coming off an Achilles tear $100 million guaranteed? Achilles injuries are notoriously difficult to recover from, especially for older players, and there’s no guarantee Cousins will return to his previous form. That’s a head-scratcher. What makes this deal even worse is that Atlanta turned around and used a top-10 pick on Michael Penix Jr. If you’re that concerned about the future, why make such a massive commitment to Cousins in the first place?
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
I get Atlanta wanting to roll the dice on Cousins in spite of his age and the Achilles tear, since they viewed him as a potential stabilizer—a veteran who could bring some much-needed experience to a young offense, but the big-picture decision making is puzzling to say the least.
Quenton Nelson, OG, Indianapolis Colts, 4 years, $80,000,000
There was a time when Quenton Nelson was once considered the best guard in football, but his play has fallen off in recent seasons, and the $80 million extension he signed in 2022 is starting to look like a bad investment.
Obviously, you need to invest heavily in your offensive line… Especially Indianapolis, which has a young quarterback in Anthony Richardson that they are trying to keep healthy… But Nelson’s deal is ultimately doing the opposite of that now—as he is no longer performing at an elite level. He is really far from it!
And that’s a tough pill to swallow for a team that has plenty of other holes to fill.
Jamel Dean, CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 4 years, $52 million
Tampa Bay had a surprisingly impressive season last year, but their number one cornerback, Jamel Dean, was not at the epicenter of the success. Really—the Bucs’ success, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, was in spite of Dean.
As a rookie third-round pick, Dean posted an impressive stat line of 21 tackles, 17 passes defensed, two interceptions, and even forced a fumble in 2019. Last season, he was down to 4 defended passes and 0 picks. It’s not exactly the type of production you would want to see out of a guy who was given big money—$52 million dollars over four years, to be exact- to be the top cornerback down in Southern Florida for the Buccaneers. That’s a problem.
Dean struggled with both his performance and his health last year—as we saw him miss five games and frequently get burned in coverage. It seemed like every time you looked up, Dean was either hurt or on the wrong side of a big play for the opposing team.
There were multiple times down the stretch of the season, too, where those roads merged, and Dean got torched and immediately left the game… first in Week 9 by Texans receiver Nico Collins—then in Week 11 by 49ers wideout Brandon Aiyuk.
Maybe health was at the root of all his issues last year, and he’ll have a resurgence in 2024, but for now—this is quickly shaping up to be one of the worst NFL contracts in the game today.
Miles Sanders, RB, Carolina Panthers 4 years, $25.4 million contract ($13 million guaranteed)
When the Panthers signed Miles Sanders to a four-year deal worth $25.4 million, eyebrows were raised—in part because he is a running back, but also because he was a far cry from the Saquon Barkley’s and Christian McCaffrey’s of the world who tend to get the big deals.
I understand that Sanders was coming off a solid season with the Eagles, but it was an extremely questionable decision…
And all the doubters have been proven correct thus far, as his first year in Carolina was a complete bust.
He managed just 432 rushing yards and it got so bad that he essentially ended up losing his starting job to Chuba Hubbard.
The Panthers were so underwhelmed that they drafted Jonathon Brooks in the second round, signaling that Sanders might be an expensive backup sooner rather than later—and one that comes with $7.5 million in dead money tied to him.
Needless to say, this deal is already looking like a mistake—not that that’s anything new down in Raleigh with the way that this team has been run over the past few years under David Tepper!
Deshaun Watson, QB, Cleveland Browns, 5 years, $230 million (fully guaranteed)
The Browns’ decision to give Deshaun Watson the first fully guaranteed contract worth over $200 million is a masterclass in quarterback desperation. The organization was so deprived of talent at the single most important position in the game—that it was willing to overlook more than two dozen accusations of sexual misconduct and bet the farm on Watson in the form of a five-year and $230 million dollar deal.
Here we are, two seasons in, and Watson’s play on the field—you know… when he’s been able to stay on the field—has been nothing short of underwhelming.
His QB rating is worse than both Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett, and he seems to lack any of the firepower that once made him one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the game with Houston.
This albatross of a deal has really screwed Cleveland in a big way… they can’t even look at restructuring his deal again to create more cap room, as that would really only end up creating even bigger financial headaches in the future.
With a cap hit north of $63 million in 2024, Cleveland is stuck with a contract that might go down as one of the worst in NFL history—and you know what? I don’t think anyone feels bad for them on this one!
Also Read: The Worst NFL Contract At Every Position In The League Right Now (2024)
Von Miller, EDGE, Buffalo Bills, 6 Years, $120 million
When the Buffalo Bills signed Von Miller to a six-year, $120 million contract, it was clear they were going all-in to try and get over the hump and achieve their Super Bowl aspirations.
The Bills front office saw Miller was seen as the missing piece—a Hall of Fame-caliber pass rusher who could bring the kind of veteran leadership and game-changing ability that could push the Bills over the top.
And in his first season, it seemed like the gamble might pay off. Miller notched eight sacks in 11 games, providing the kind of disruptive presence Buffalo had hoped for. But then disaster struck—an ACL tear ended his season prematurely, and the effects of that injury have lingered ever since.
At this point, it’s hard not to view this contract as anything but a misstep. At 35 years old, Miller’s best days are clearly behind him, and his performance since returning from injury has been far from what the Bills expected when they handed him that massive NFL contract. He’s struggled to recapture the explosiveness that made him one of the league’s most feared pass rushers—and he’s continued to miss time…
There’s a growing sense that Buffalo may have bet on a player whose prime is well in the rearview mirror. Miller has also been dealing with off-the-field issues that have cast a shadow over his time in Buffalo.
The financial implications of this deal are just as troubling. Miller’s cap hit in 2024 is a hefty $15.1 million, and the dead money tied to his contract makes it nearly impossible for the Bills to move on without taking a significant financial hit.
Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants, 4 Years, $160,000,000
The Daniel Jones contract might not be the absolute worst in the NFL, as the Giants at least gave themselves an out after this season… but still! It’s definitely up there as one that raises more than a few eyebrows.
When the New York Giants decided to hand Jones a four-year, $160 million deal with nearly $48 million in cap space committed to him, it signaled a level of confidence that very few people—fans or in the media—shared.
After all, Jones, at best, ranks somewhere around the top 20 quarterbacks in the league—solid but hardly elite. More of a game manager than a franchise quarterback.
And after what we saw play out last season when Jones was ultimately replaced by Tommy DeVito, a practice squad call-up, during one of the Giants’ worst stretches of the season—it is hard not to say that this is one of the worst deals in the game.
Think about that for a second—your $160 million quarterback getting outplayed by an undrafted free agent whose nickname was Tommy Cutlets. Yes… there was an injury involved, but still… Even when Jones was healthy, his play was clearly not up to par.
What made this contract even more questionable was the opportunity cost. The Giants could have used that money to lock down Saquon Barkley, who has been the heart and soul of their offense—and instead they ended up losing him to their divisional rival, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Heading into this season, the Giants are hoping and praying that Jones can rebound effectively and become the leader they need—at least in the short term, but there’s a lot of potential for this contract to continue to backfire.
With the memory of him being shown up by DeVito still fresh, it’s hard to shake the feeling that New York might have made a very expensive mistake.
Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints, 5 Years, $75,000,000
There is no doubt that Alvin Kamara has been a net positive for the Saints since he broke into the league with them out of Tennessee… After all, he was just a third-round pick and ended up turning into a bonafide NFL superstar for the first few seasons of his career, but this contract is starting to look like a burden.
The reality of the NFL is that running backs have a notoriously short shelf life, and Kamara’s recent struggles with injuries and declining production are a stark reminder of that.
With injuries piling up and his production declining, the $75 million deal he signed in 2020 is becoming harder to justify.
The Saints are now in a position where they’re paying top dollar for a running back who might be past his prime, and that’s never a good place to be in today’s NFL.
Preston Smith, LB, Green Bay Packers, 4 years, $52,000,000
Preston Smith has been a reliable player for the Packers—and he hasn’t fallen off the cliff yet, but at 31 years old, he’s starting to show signs of decline—and there is concern that he isn’t going to be able to live up to that hefty price tag.
His base may be just $5.7 million, but the $5.4 million dollar roster bonus definitely complicated things for the Packers, especially as the veteran linebacker’s performance has waned.
Smith was reportedly open to restructuring his deal before and can choose to do so again., which would help both sides since Green Bay is in the process of getting younger.
But if he doesn’t, he may end up finding himself on the chopping block sooner rather than later because that $52 million contract is a roadblock for a lot of the roster retooling that Green Bay needs to do.
Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams, 3 Years, $80,100,000
I think that everyone knew when Cooper Kupp signed his deal that there was a good chance that he didn’t live up to it…
I mean, yes—he was once the best receiver in football, but injuries have taken their toll, and the $80.1 million extension he signed in 2022 was an astronomical price tag for a wide receiver at that time.
But the Rams had to pay him big bucks… After all, they had just won the Super Bowl, and he had been good all year.
Unfortunately, since then, he hasn’t been able to recapture that magic—largely—because the guy can’t stay healthy. Kupp missed 13 games over the last two seasons, and when he has been out there, he does look like he’s lost a step.
Either way… At this point, he’s definitely taken a back seat in Puka Nacua, and he’s not living up to his massive $30 million per year contract.
Also Read: All 32 NFL Teams’ Worst Player Contract Right Now
