With each NFL offseason, it seems that teams are awarding more and more important contracts. If you ask me, it was one of the biggest mistakes in NFL history when the Atlanta Falcons signed Michael Vick to that $130 million contract in 2005. Sometimes superstar players like Tom Brady accept smaller contracts in favor of a team that is trying to evade a salary cap. Although the current leader of this list has been in first place for two years, expect that number to be broken in the coming years. Young superstars like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson are facing big salaries and will make some of the current lists of the 50 biggest NFL contracts in history like small potatoes. Click to discover the calculations behind the biggest expenses in football. While the Oakland Raiders paid a lot of money to keep Derek Carr, they found themselves in a stalemate with linebacker Khalil Mack before the 2018 season. Unable to agree on a new contract, the Raiders traded Mack to the Chicago Bears, where he became the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. Mack made two Pro Bowls in Chicago and had 21 sacks. Brady agreed in 2010 to a huge $78.5 million contract for just five seasons. Some of the contracts were awarded more than a decade ago to names that have long since retired or moved into the broadcast booth. A common trend that you will see everywhere is that of a player who has inherited a big contract but rarely makes this contract with the same team. In the NFL, contracts are not guaranteed, so teams have often used a strategy of loading contracts with high totals, knowing that they could cancel connections towards the end of a transaction.
Lately, players are less willing to transfer guaranteed money and require a large portion of contracts to pay guaranteed money in advance. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has signed a contract extension that makes him the highest-paid player in the NFL. According to Forbes, the record contract has the highest total value of any contract in the history of the sport. Take a look at some of the stats behind the NFL`s current longest contract belonging to the reigning Super Bowl MVP. Odell Beckham Jr. impressed fans with his acrobatic catches during his time with the New York Giants, and Big Blue rewarded the former LSU star with a guaranteed $65 million contract in 2018. However, Beckham was traded to the Cleveland Browns less than a year later, ending a dazzling but rollercoaster-like term in New York City. 1 – Mahomes signed a 10-year extension on July 6, 2020. When the deal was first reported, it was estimated at 10 years for $503 million. Later, it turned out that this amount included the last years of the contract under which he was at that time and the money that remained on that contract. 2 – Alex Rodriguez`s salary for 2014 was reduced to $2,868,853 due to his one-season suspension in connection with the Biogenesis baseball scandal[105] 3 – Rodriguez and Greinke terminated their contracts after the 2007 and 2007 seasons, respectively. 2015 4 – Vick`s contract was terminated by the Atlanta Falcons after season 5 of 2006 – Based solely on regular season games (without playoff games), also in baseball starting pitchers usually all five games, rest during the break between R`s departures – Retired injury – Although he is technically still under contract, the injury ended his career * – more with the team ‡ – Total salary of the unguaranteed contract Mahomes, 25, reached the last two Super Bowls, won one and averaging 4,931 passing yards, 41 passes and eight interceptions per 16 games he played during his career.
It doesn`t look like the Chiefs will regret giving him the richest contract in the NFL — 10 years, $450 million — anytime soon. This is a list of the biggest sports contracts. These figures include signing bonuses, but exclude options, redemptions and endorsement agreements. This list does not reflect the highest annual salaries or career earnings, but only the 100 largest contracts and is therefore largely limited to team sports and motor racing athletes. Athletes in individual sports such as golf, tennis, boxing, kickboxing and MMA are not employed by a team and usually earn money mainly through event winnings. This list also doesn`t necessarily reflect the real money raised by athletes, as some contracts are ultimately terminated (usually because an athlete retires or invokes their opt-out clause). The Giants beat Leonard Williams for the second year in a row, but the parties eventually agreed on a long-term contract in March that kept him in New York with a three-year contract and $63 million with a $45 million guarantee, including a $22.5 million signing bonus. Since the Giants spent two mid-round draft picks in 2019 to acquire the defensive lineman from their crosstown rival, Williams, now 27, is perhaps their most efficient passer with 11.5 sacks last season. .