The value of NFL contracts has skyrocketed as the salary cap continues to increase every year. However, even with teams having far more money to spend building their rosters, some players are overpaid relative to their performance.
Today, we take a look at the 10 least team-friendly deals in the league. Who has the worst contracts in the NFL?
Who Has the Worst Contracts in the NFL?
10) Gabe Davis, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars hoped Gabe Davis could become a deep threat for Trevor Lawrence after handing him a three-year contract worth $39 million during the 2024 offseason. However, the former Bill posted just 20 catches for 239 yards in nine games before going on season-ending injured reserve.
While the Jaguars obviously couldn’t have foreseen Davis’ injury, it was worth wondering whether Davis was more a product of Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen than a viable receiving threat.
Jacksonville gave Davis the same contract that landed the Atlanta Falcons fellow wideout Darnell Mooney, who’s on pace for a career year with a 48-711-5 line through Week 11.
9) Bryce Huff, Philadelphia Eagles
It looked like Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman had hoodwinked the New York Jets this offseason. Not only did Roseman convince Gang Green to give up draft capital for contract-needy Haason Reddick, but the Eagles turned around and signed Bryce Huff away from New York.
No one thought Huff — primarily a designated pass rusher for the Jets — was as talented as Reddick, but he’s almost four years younger. He’d consistently been atop the NFL’s pressure rate leaderboards, even if his production came in a small sample. A three-year, $51 million deal for Huff seemed to make sense for the Eagles.
But it hasn’t worked out. Huff ranks 103rd in pressure rate (9.7%) among defenders with at least 100 pass-rushing snaps this season. After posting 10 sacks in 2023, he has just 2.5 this year.
Huff went to injured reserve before Week 12, but he’d already been losing playing time before going down. The 26-year-old hadn’t played more than 25 snaps in a game since Week 7.
8) Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints gave Alvin Kamara a two-year, $23.5 million extension in Oct. 2024. His new deal features a lower average annual salary than his previous Saints contract, while New Orleans’ primary motivation with Kamara’s contract was to reduce his existing cap charge.
The Saints will have to make some relatively creative moves — we’re putting it nicely — to become salary-cap compliant over the next year or two. The Kamara extension was part of that process, but we still can’t condone a multi-year deal for a 29-year-old running back in decline.
7) James Bradberry IV, Philadelphia Eagles
Although Philadelphia almost let James Bradberry IV walk after his 2022 second-team All-Pro season, they eventually re-signed the veteran corner on a three-year, $38 million pact. The deal quickly turned into a disaster.
Bradberry allowed 2.9 more yards per target and 2.5 more yards per completion than he did the previous season, and he gave up 11 touchdowns as the nearest defender in coverage — the most in the NFL.
Bradberry hasn’t played yet this year, spending the season on IR after hurting his leg in August. While the Eagles have reworked Bradberry’s contract with void years to limit the deal’s 2024 harm, the veteran corner has essentially been dead money over the past two seasons — even if he was still on Philadelphia’s roster.
6) Von Miller, EDGE, Buffalo Bills
The Bills went outside their free-agent comfort zone to ink Von Miller to a six-year, $120 million contract in 2022. Although he posted eight sacks for Buffalo in his debut campaign, Miller subsequently tore his ACL, missed the first four games of the 2023 campaign, and then struggled upon his return, managing zero sacks and three QB hits.
Despite Miller’s forgettable season, the Bills hung onto the veteran pass rusher. They made him accept a pay cut and have seen the 35-year-old rebound with a 14.4% pressure rate in 2024. Buffalo is wringing a bit of value out of the end of Miller’s deal, but the overall return on investment hasn’t been there.
5) Marcus Williams, S, Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens have benched safety Marcus Williams twice this year, first in Week 8 and again in Week 11. This time, it appears the change will stick, as head coach John Harbaugh indicated Baltimore will start safety Ar’Darius Washington alongside All-Pro Kyle Hamilton moving forward.
Though 11 weeks, Williams had allowed a perfect — for the QB, not for Williams — 158.3 passer rating as the nearest defender in coverage. He’d given up the highest yards per target (12.3) and completion (18.4) of his Ravens tenure.
Williams’ five-year, $70 million contract includes an $18 million cap hit for 2024. Baltimore can get out of the deal next offseason but will absorb almost $14 million in dead money by cutting Williams.
4) Cameron Jordan, EDGE, New Orleans Saints
Cameron Jordan’s pressure rate (7.5%) ranks 47th among 57 edge rushers with at least 100 pass rushes in 2024. His pass-rush win rate (7.0%) is 50th. He’s recorded just one sack and three QB hits.
If the 35-year-old weren’t such a franchise stalwart in New Orleans, he might’ve been cut by now.
We use the phrase “dead money” to refer to cap space being taken up by a player no longer on a team’s roster, but Jordan has essentially been dead money for the Saints over the past two years when he’s accounted for $30 million on the team’s cap.
New Orleans will have to decide on Jordan before the third day of the 2025 league year when his $12.5 million base salary will become guaranteed. A post-June 1 cut — which would create $11 million in cap savings — seems like the likeliest outcome.
3) Miles Sanders, RB, Carolina Panthers
Miles Sanders earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2022 while playing behind the Eagles’ NFL-best offensive line. Hoping the veteran RB could build on that production, the Carolina Panthers handed Sanders a four-year, $25.4 million contract with $13 million fully guaranteed in 2023.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sanders couldn’t live up to his end of the bargain in Carolina. He quickly lost his starting job to fellow RB Chuba Hubbard and received just 14 total carries over the final month of the season.
While Sanders has been mentioned in trade rumors, he stuck around with the Panthers in 2024 but had only 38 carries through Week 11. Carolina has since extended Hubbard’s contract, while second-round rookie RB Jonathon Brooks will make his NFL debut in Week 12.
2) Jonah Jackson, iOL, Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams gave Jonah Jackson a three-year, $51 million contract in March with the hope that he’d become a valuable presence along their interior offensive line.
Instead, here’s how Jackson’s Rams tenure has gone:
- Moved from left guard to center after Steve Avila suffered a training camp injury
- Fractured his scapula in Week 2, keeping him on IR until Week 10
- Benched in favor of sixth-round rookie center Beaux Limmer in Week 11
Head coach Sean McVay said he still has confidence in Jackson, who could still work his way back into the starting lineup by the end of the season. But this has been a disaster of a start for Jackson, who received $25.5 million fully guaranteed on his three-year pact.
1) Deshaun Watson, QB, Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns’ 2022 Deshaun Watson acquisition will go down as one of the worst trades in NFL history, and the quarterback’s contract remains a total impediment. Cleveland gave up three first-round picks to land Watson while he was facing 24 allegations of sexual assault before signing him to a fully guaranteed $230 million extension.
No other NFL team has followed suit with a fully guaranteed contract for their quarterback while Watson has been abysmal as Cleveland’s starter. Among the 37 QBs to attempt at least 500 passes since 2022, Watson ranks 34th in passing success rate (37.5%), 35th in efficiency (-0.19 EPA per dropback), and 36th in yards per attempt (6.0).
The 29-year-old’s future is uncertain after he suffered a torn Achilles in Week 7 of the 2024 campaign. With the Browns trending toward an early 2025 NFL Draft choice (which could allow them to land another quarterback), Watson almost certainly won’t return as Cleveland’s starter.
However, Watson is essentially un-cuttable. Not only is his contract fully guaranteed, but the Browns have consistently restructured his deal, reducing his base salaries and pushing money into future seasons in order to create immediate cap space.
Even if the Browns designated Watson as a post-June 1 release next offseason, they’d still have to absorb nearly $120 million in 2025 dead money. No NFL team has ever taken on more than $50 million in single-season dead money for an individual player.
Cleveland is likely stuck with Watson on its roster through 2025, making him the league’s most overpaid backup.