There are plenty of bad contracts all around the NFL, but these five contracts stand out among the rest as the worst in the league in 2022.
There are plenty of bad contracts all across the NFL, but some deals stand out as certainly being worse than others.
Of course, in the same breath, it’s actually tough to call any contract in the NFL “bad” from the player’s perspective, because compared to other professional leagues, the NFL’s contract structures are almost all not fully guaranteed.
NFL teams have to deal with the salary cap and rosters bigger than 15-20 players, so deals are structured in a way that teams have a way to get “out” later on if things don’t work out and save some money.
Based on the physicality and longevity of NFL player careers, you could say that almost all NFL contracts are ‘bad’ from the player perspective when comparing them to other professional leagues.
With that being said, we’re looking at deals in the context of the NFL, not other pro sports.
Which five contracts are the worst in the league in 2022?
No. 5 worst contract in the NFL: Jamal Adams, S, Seattle Seahawks
4 years, $70.58 million, $38 million guaranteed
Jamal Adams signed this massive contract just before the start of the 2021 NFL season, and it’s hard to say at this point that the Seattle Seahawks could really have any sort of buyer’s remorse.
At an average annual value of $17.65 million per season, Jamal Adams is one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL but nobody really knows what position he is.
He’s not a traditional safety and he’s not a traditional linebacker, but he kind of plays both.
The Seahawks’ rapid decline began and was accelerated by the trade for, and subsequent contract to Jamal Adams. Just a complete disaster.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) March 9, 2022
Seattle had to surrender multiple first-round picks to get Adams from the New York Jets, one of which was used to move up in the 2021 NFL Draft so the Jets could select offensive guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and the other used to select Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Because of the price paid to acquire Adams in a trade and to keep him around contractually, this is undoubtedly one of the worst contracts in the NFL.
Adams is paid like some star receivers, but his impact on the passing game is minimal by comparison.
He’s paid like a top-flight pass rusher, but he doesn’t give you double-digit sacks.
Coming in with the no. 61 biggest contract in the league in terms of average pay, Adams’ deal might end up being a very regrettable one for the Seahawks before too long.
No. 4 worst NFL contract in 2022: Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
6 years, $90 million, $50.052 million guaranteed
At an average of $15 million per season, Ezekiel Elliott is the second-highest paid running back in the NFL each year and his average annual value cracks the top 100 overall in the NFL.
He’s got the second biggest cap hit on the Cowboys in 2022 and the 32nd highest cap hit ($18.22 million) of any player in the league.
The Dallas Cowboys figured that Elliott could revive the value of the running back from the 1990s, but that hasn’t happened.
He’s undoubtedly one of the best backs in the NFL, but would Elliott be one of the top 32 most coveted players in the entire NFL?
In terms of the practical guarantees in his contract, Elliott’s $50 million-plus is easily the biggest figure at his position group in the NFL, ahead of Christian McCaffrey by almost $12 million and ahead of Alvin Kamara by $17 million.
The bizarre thing is, this contract reset the market all the way back in 2019 and nobody’s really even come close since then, at least not in terms of guaranteed money.
McCaffrey topped Elliott’s deal in terms of average annual value, but that’s what you get when you catch 100 passes multiple times as a running back.
Kamara matched the $15 million annually, but on a shorter deal.
The Cowboys have really stuck themselves with Elliott and maybe they’re okay with that.
No. 3 worst contract in the NFL: Christian Kirk, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
4 years, $72 million, $37 million guaranteed
The Jacksonville Jaguars are not so unattractive of a situation to stoop this low for a player like Christian Kirk, who is a fine player.
Kirk is a solid NFL receiver who is coming off of a decent season in Arizona where he caught a career-high 77 passes for 982 yards and five touchdowns.
After that, he is now tied with Kenny Golladay for having the 13th highest average annual value on a contract for an NFL receiver and he’s the only one in the top 20 and borderline the only one sniffing it that doesn’t have a 1,000-yard season on his résumé.
Like I said, the Jaguars’ situation is not this unattractive to pay a decent slot receiver $18 million per year. With Doug Pederson in place as the team’s new head coach and Trevor Lawrence expected to take a big step forward in year two, the Jaguars shouldn’t have to be in a position to overpay like this.
The good news for them? There is only $37 million — effectively two years of this deal — guaranteed.
The optics of the contract look worse than it may be in all reality but especially considering the Jaguars can offer tax-free income in the state of Florida, this deal is over the top.
No. 2 worst contract in the NFL: Amari Cooper, WR, Cleveland Browns
5 years, $100 million, $60 million guaranteed
The Dallas Cowboys were paying wide receivers $20 million per year before it was cool to do so.
Dallas gave Amari Cooper a $100 million deal in 2020 after rumors that he might be interested in potentially signing with the Washington Football Team.
If you need a true indicator of just how bad this contract is, consider all of the insane wide receiver trades we saw over the course of the 2022 offseason.
Cooper is not a similar player to Tyreek Hill or Davante Adams (though his pay is not far off) but he was effectively traded for a fifth-round selection when most players getting traded at his position were going for at least a first-round pick if not much more.
After he was traded to the Cleveland Browns, he converted more than $18 million of his base salary in 2022 to a signing bonus out of necessity.
The Browns put almost $8 million of that into future years when Cooper is not even under contract with the team.
For what Cooper brings to the table, $20 million per season was always an overpay. Two years after he signed the deal, Dallas predictably had to move on to get that deal off the books, and they got bad value in return.
No. 1 worst contract in the NFL: Deshaun Watson, QB, Cleveland Browns
5 years, $230 million, $230 million guaranteed
With all due respect to Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Barry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, who made a move to get a guy they felt could lead their franchise into actual title contention, this is the worst contract I have ever seen.
After the 2020 season, Deshaun Watson demanded a trade. He wasn’t going to play another down for the Houston Texans and the Texans were dug in the ground that they wouldn’t trade him.
Then came the off-field issues and allegations of sexual misconduct from 22 women, and Watson’s NFL future was very much up in the air.
After spending the entire year on the Texans’ roster but not playing, even though he wasn’t suspended or on some exempt list by the NFL, the Texans finally decided to listen to calls on Watson.
Watson essentially got to be recruited by NFL teams and it was reported that he had eliminated the Browns as an option.
Then, we assume, came this contract offer.
It seemed like Watson was bound for the NFC South before news broke that he had shockingly accepted a trade to the Browns, with a whopping $230 million in fully guaranteed cash attached.
What? Why?
Watson’s $230 million fully guaranteed is more guaranteed money than any contract in NFL history…by $80 million.
Considering the off-field issues and year away from the game, the only reason to make a move like this is out of pure desperation.