WORST Contracts In The NFL Right Now

with record-setting deals being given out every off-season there are bound to be some mistakes the kind of mistakes that put a general manager's job in Jeopardy here are the 10 worst contracts in the NFL right now as a rookie Ezekiel Elliott took the league by storm and became one of the most explosive players in the NFL the problem is sometimes a player Rises fast and Falls faster in his rookie season Elliott led the league in rushing with 1 613 yards and 15 touchdowns Zeke was selected as a first team All-Pro and it was clear that he could be the player to lead America's team for years to come until in 2017 his rise to prominence was halted and Zeke would only play in 10 games because there were serious allegations of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend but while on the field he averaged an incredible 98.3 yards per game and in 2018 he came back with a vengeance to remind everyone that he was still the best back in the league Elliott led the NFL in rushing once again with 1434 yards so the following offseason Zeke demanded a new long-term contract and he got it the Dallas Cowboys made Ezekiel Elliott the highest paid running back in NFL history at the time with a six-year extension worth 90 million dollars and 50 million dollars guaranteed but the 2 2019 season was the last time Zeke would be selected to the Pro Bowl and be regarded as one of the best players in the league since then Elliot's numbers have dropped significantly in 2020 his yards per game and yards per carry were the lowest of his career so far Zeke averaged just 65.3 yards a game which ranked 14th and 4.1 yards per attempt which ranked 41st among running backs Elliott has not played anywhere close to what his contract suggests and his career highs were achieved in his rookie season running backs don't often take up so much cap space and Zeke's contract is exactly why but Zeke wasn't the only Rising Star to Peak early Jamal Adams better improved quickly or this could be his last big contract coming out of college Jamal Adams was widely regarded as one of the best prospects at safety in decades he was drafted six overall by the New York Jets and the team knew they were getting a good player but what they didn't know was Adams had the ability to take over games on his own at times he could even be their entire defense then following an incredible rookie season Adams took a massive leap and solidified himself as one of the best safeties in the league even though he wasn't the best in past coverage his ability to disrupt of posing offense is made up for that his knack for getting into the opposing backfield and racking up sacks was something the NFL hadn't seen before from the safety position and Jamal's performance in just his second season earned him second team All-Pro honors but prior to the 2019 season reports came out that the Jets were open to trading atoms which didn't sit well with the starting defensive back fortunately that wasn't seen in his play on the field he ended the season with 6.5 sacks on his way to a first-team All-Pro selection however contract disputes in the offseason led to Adams being traded to the Seattle Seahawks who made him the highest paid safety in NFL history with a four-year 72 million dollar deal a contract the Seahawks may already be regretting in 2020 Jamal looked every bit of himself tallying 9.5 sacks which is the NFL record for a defensive back but in 2021 Adams production dropped and teams started to expose his lack of ability and pass coverage his massive contract puts the Seahawks in a bit of a tricky situation he takes up such a large percentage of the cap it's hard to surround him with other defensive stars and if he isn't producing at an All-Pro level every game like his contract suggests they will struggle in 2022 in just the first game of the year Jamal Adams suffered a quadricep tendon injury which ended his season but young Stars aren't the only ones securing big contracts and taking an even bigger dump on the team that signed them Kenny galliday wasn't a high first round pick with a lot of hype coming into the league in fact in 2017 the Detroit Lions selected him in the third round golliday had to fight for his place and earn a starting role but once he did he proved to be a strong wide receiver that could be the team's number one target his two years as a starter saw him receive over 1 000 yards and in 2019 he proved to be a very good Red Zone Target hauling in a league High 11 touchdowns but in 2020 goliday suffered a hip injury and would cut his season short nonetheless when the off-season came around he was extremely sought after being one of the top pass catchers available in free agency so the New York Giants offered him a four-year 72 million dollar deal and goliday became one of the highest paid players at the receiver position now just one full year into that deal it looks like the Giants are already regretting it golliday ended his first season in New York with 37 receptions for 521 yards and no touchdowns so far in 2022 Gala day barely even sees the field for the Giants unless he can recapture some of that 2019 form this will go down as one of the worst free agent signings in NFL history at least goliday's problems remained on the field because Frank Clark had issues on the field and off of it coming into the 2015 NFL draft Frank Clark was drafted with the 63rd overall pick by the Seattle Seahawks they were coming off back-to-back Super Bowl appearances and Clark was benched to sit and learn when he got his chance oh he took it Clark was coming off three straight seasons of nine or more sacks with the Seahawks before he hit the free agency market and in 2018 a 13 sack season landed him a huge contract with the Kansas City Chiefs a five-year contract worth 105.5 million dollars with 63.5 million dollars guaranteed making him one of the highest paid defensive players ever but to say that Clark has been a disappointment since his arrival in Kansas City would be putting it lightly he has failed to reach nine sacks in all three of his Seasons with the Chiefs despite being one of the highest paid players on their roster and in 2021 Clark had a career low in Sachs as a starter with 4.5 but gets worse because if his lack of production wasn't bad enough this past off season Clark was arrested twice for felony gun charges at least the Chiefs did make it to the Super Bowl after giving Clark that massive contract the ramps they can't say the same about Jared Goff the Rams hadn't had a winning season in over 10 years and they decided something needed to be done so in 2016 the Los Angeles Rams traded up to the number one overall pick in a blockbuster trade with the Tennessee Titans to draft draft Jared Goff Goff had only started seven games in his rookie season and lost all of them but when new coach Sean McVay was hired things began to look up for golf in the Rams McVeigh found a way to get the best out of the former number one overall pick in 2017 Goff was able to make his first playoffs appearance and in 2018 he threw for 4 688 passing yards and 32 touchdowns taking the Rams to the Super Bowl this was enough for the Rams to offer goth a four-year extension worth 138 million dollars with 110 million in guarantees which was the most ever at the time but following this huge contract extension goff's numbers took a dip he threw for fewer touchdowns his completion percentage decreased and he threw more picks and in 2020 goff's play only continued to plummet Ian McVay were no longer on the same page and the Rams gave up on golf so they traded him to the Detroit Lions as part of a package for Matthew Stafford and unfortunately it was the Lions who were left with the remainder of his massive contract goff's first season in Detroit was rough he finished 3 10 and 1 one in the 14 games he started while things are looking out for the lions in 2022 Goff seems to be a very expensive placeholder for whoever their next signal caller will be but at least golf's contract didn't impact the entire league because there's one wide receiver who signed a deal that would change the way receivers are paid Forever After Four Seasons with the Arizona Cardinals Christian Kirk had established himself as a very solid pass catcher in the league and coming off a season with 982 receiving yards Kirk was expecting a nice contract in free agency but when he received his offer even he was shocked Christian Kirk was a good wide receiver he has never had a thousand yard season and has never been the clear number one option on his team but the Jacksonville Jaguars decided they didn't just want Kirk they needed a player like him to pair with their Young quarterback Trevor Lawrence so Jacksonville opened up the checkbook to make sure Kirk didn't sign anywhere else they gave him a four-year 72 million dollar contract making him one of the highest paid receivers in the league as a result many people blame this contract for other top-tier receivers who were far more established than Kirk being given enormous contract extensions Kirk is off to a good start with the Jags and hopefully he can live up to his deal until then though it will go down as one of the biggest overpays in NFL history but that wasn't the only massive contract that would change a position's market forever Byron Jones was drafted in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys and at the time he was a solid cornerback capable of following the opponent's number one receiver at the very least it's fair to say Jones did a good job so after five years in Dallas it was time for Jones to explore free agency and in 2020 the Miami Dolphins decided they would try and create the best cornerback pairing in the league after boasting the two-time interception leader in Xavian Howard the Dolphins went out and added Pro Bowl quarterback Byron Jones with a five-year 82 million dollar deal but the problem wasn't the money see they thought Jones would take his game to the next level and shut down receivers with Howard on the other side unfortunately that wasn't the case he has given up almost double the yards per season since joining Miami and opposing teams see him as an easy target to say the least paying a number two cornerback that much money is questionable especially when he is regressed since receiving the big contract and now every cornerback will be looking to sign a bigger check but paying a player in free agency a premium when you already have a stud at the same position isn't exclusive to the Miami Dolphins after six years with the Pittsburgh Steelers Edge rusher Bud Dupree had proven to be one of the better pass rushers in the league although Dupree has only registered double-digit sacks once in his career there was an obvious upside with him being a disruptive pass rusher and Dupree's 19.5 sacks combined in 2019 and 2020 where enough room to demand a massive contract and free agency but just one year into a five-year 85 million dollar deal and the Tennessee Titans could already be regretting giving that kind of money to the outside linebacker the Titans plan on the field was clear run the ball control the clock and get off the field on defense Dupree was supposed to contribute to that winning formula it wasn't to be he he missed six games in 2021 and recorded only three sacks then to make matters worse Harold Landry was already on the team registered 12 sacks if Dupree can stay healthy he still has time to justify his Hefty deal otherwise the Titans will have to deal with a terrible contract for the next four years and while most players on this list have received questionable contracts CJ Mosley actually deserved every penny he got he burst onto the scene in 2014 with the Baltimore Ravens who selected him 17th overall in his first five seasons CJ was selected to four Pro bowls and had four second team All-Pro selections he quickly established himself as one of the very best inside linebackers in the league and was the unquestioned leader on a formidable Ravens defense so in 2019 when he hit free agency there were plenty of suitors and Mosley had earned any contract that was set to come his way because Mosley had the profile of a player who could be the Cornerstone of a struggling team and help inspire a winning culture the New York Jets came in and offered him a mega five-year 85 million dollar contract the idea was for Mosley to come in and be the lead of the Jets defensive unit in his first game with the Jets he made five tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown it looked as though the Jets made the right move until a groin injury in the third quarter of that week one game would cause him to miss the rest of the season Mosley then opted out of the 2020 season and his return in 2021 did not live up to expectations although he was one of the tackle leaders in the league his flaws and pass coverage were exposed multiple times he allowed a completion percentage of 85 percent when targeted and gave up three touchdowns to sum things up his injury record combined with his inability and pass coverage made this a very bad contract for the Jets and unfortunately injuries are far too often the cause of a perfectly reasonable contract becoming a bad one but sometimes contracts are just bad from the start the Patriots know this all too well the 2021 offseason was awkward for many teams trying to build an offense because there was a real lack of production among pass catchers that were available this opened the door for tight ends to get paid and one of these tight ends was Janu Smith he showed a lot of Promise during his time in Tennessee and when he hit free agency he received a fair amount of Interest Smith would be a solid pickup for most teams but the reality was that he never managed to reach 500 receiving yards in his career and he wasn't exactly the best at run blocking either so when the New England Patriots signed Johnny Smith to a four-year 50 million dollar deal making him one of the highest paid players at the position it raised a few eyebrows then to make the situation even weirder the Pats also signed tight end Hunter Henry to a three-year 37 million dollar deal but who are we to question the great Bill Belichick right Belichick probably had a plan for the tight ends and in Smith's final season with the Titans he hauled in eight touchdown receptions however it's safe to say Belichick might have gotten it wrong on this one because Smith ended up the first season in New England with an abysmal 298 receiving yard and just one touched in 16 games hunter Henry was Far and Away the tight end number one and it just doesn't make sense to pay a backup tight end that kind of money the Patriots better hope Smith can contribute a lot more than he has so far because this contract isn't magically going away

Channel: Nonstop

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Keywords: NFL, Worst contracts, Nonstop Sports

Id: csGBr4rX5x4

Length: 13min 35sec (815 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 27 2022