Because that’s 1,829 more kick return yards and 89 more punt return yards than Howard produced from 1992 to 2002. Unfortunately, that two-season surge also appears to have been the last big effort of Johnson’s NFL career. In what’s becoming a familiar tale, Brown’s contract year netted him a big, multiyear deal, but it did not translate into a sustained level of excellence on the field. All statistics were sourced from Pro-Football-Reference. How then do you identify the bad contracts? All data was collected and up to date as of July 10, 2020. So, when the Packers signed him to a six-year, $33 million deal in 2002, the idea was to get a top-tier pass rusher on defense. Haynesworth never seemed quite as motivated in a Washington uniform, ultimately starting just over 10% of the games he was signed for. But while most people only have to notice their metabolism slowing almost as quickly as the severity of their hangovers is accelerating, professional athletes have to watch their livelihood evaporate. The back produced three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and a rushing title in just seven seasons. He shattered it into nearly 500 million pieces, by signing a 10-year, $503 million dollar extension with the Chiefs. Smith celebrated his dirty thirty with a 10-sack season for Atlanta in 1999, which secured him a five-year, $21 million deal with the Panthers that offseason. Both were free agents prior to the 2008 season, so that would be an easy mistake to make. Luck endured a rash of injuries over the course of his career, so his decision to hang up his cleats at the age of 29 was made with his long-term well-being in mind. These Are The Top Ten Largest Contracts Ever In The NFL Here Are The 29 Players Who Have Made $100M Or More In Their NFL Careers But, the timing of those seasons is the real sticking point for Philadelphia Eagles fans. This is another of those Browns contracts that just screams “unforced error.” They likely banked on the fact that Dwayne Bowe had been a reliable wide receiver with Kansas City for years. The new contract included $100 million in guaranteed money, which made Ryan the first player in league history to reach triple digits in guaranteed cash. Which is particularly unfortunate for the Houston Texans as they signed him to a three-year, $15 million deal right before that last season. Whatever was working for O’Donnell in Pittsburgh, though, never translated in the Big Apple. All factors were then scored and combined with the highest score determining the biggest NFL contract bust of all time. Unfortunately, the first year of the contract was the final of Porter’s career. He donned the uniform of five different NFL franchises before he was done, with most of them getting the good-but-not-great quarterback play that would at least keep you in games. Methodology: In order to find the biggest NFL contract busts of all time, GOBankingRates first determined a player had to sign a multiyear contract and it had to be a non-rookie contract. He started 39 of the 128 games he was signed to and was out of the NFL after 2009. The seven-year, $34.8 million deal to play for the Denver Broncos signed by Daryl Gardener did not grow into a fruitful relationship between team and player. While he has yet to lead the Falcons to a Super Bowl title, Ryan has enjoyed a strong career since the team made him the No. Fred Smoot made a name for himself working across the field from teammate Champ Bailey in Washington, where they made up one of the better cornerback tandems in football. Green’s four-year, $20 million deal with Pittsburgh isn’t exactly enormous, but having a $4 million tight end eating a hole in your roster can be a major burden, even just for a season. It’s hard to argue he doesn’t deserve it. O’Donnell wasn’t good in Pittsburgh, but he was a capable player who helped steer his team to 37 wins in 53 starts from 1992 to 1995. Find Out: Which NFL Teams Spent the Most in Free Agency? So, when the Packers signed him to a six-year, $33 million deal in 2002, they hoped to get a top-tier pass rusher on defense. Patrick Mahomes’ $500 Million Extension and 50 Other Biggest NFL Contracts of 2020. When it comes to NFL veterans floundering, it’s not always clear if age or a new system is to blame, but the tale of Yancey Thigpen leaves little room for interpretation. So, while a two-year, $15 million contract isn’t exactly an enormous commitment, it’s still not hard to see where the Browns might have managed to duck this punch. But, the guy the Titans got wasn’t quite the same — or at least he wasn’t being deployed in the same way. If Mahomes manages to hit every single one, he stands to make as much as $503 million in salary alone over the course of the agreement. Of course, that might be because you don’t often see tight ends getting offered big-money contracts. Wilson earned $19 million in salary last season in the final year of an $88 million deal he signed in 2015. Murray wound up starting just half the games that year for an Eagles squad that didn’t click. As such, the fact that he continued to struggle to stay healthy should have come as no surprise to the Raiders. The News counts down the top ten biggest multi-year contracts in NFL history. All data was collected and up to date as of July 10, 2020. For the Jets, O’Donnell proved enticing enough for the organization to throw a five-year, $24 million deal his way. He finished with a paltry 702 yards on 193 carries. The Colts were taken aback by the choice, but the two sides were eventually able to come to terms on a settlement. Murray would bounce back the following year when he rushed for almost 1,300 yards, but he was with the Titans at that point, so it didn’t really provide much solace for the Eagles. Yes, there was a time when Brock Osweiler was a highly sought after free-agent quarterback. Luck inked a six-year extension worth nearly $140 million in June of ’16, a deal that included a whopping $87 million in guaranteed cash. A new study from GOBankingRates compared contracts across positions, taking into account a few key metrics. That is the richest deal in NFL history for a defensive player, and it includes $90 million in guarantees. The most likely scenario is that Mahomes will play on the current deal for the next five or six seasons. But judging any quarterback by his best game against the Lions is playing with fire, and Flynn would start two less games in Seattle than he did in Green Bay — which is to say, none. This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Biggest Contract Busts in NFL History The pact also pays him $30 million per year. 24 Ways To Make This Week’s Paycheck Go Further, Here’s How Much Cash You Need Stashed If an Emergency Happens, 21 Smartest Ways To Invest Your Money Right Now. The Chicago Bears have a very long, very troubled history with the quarterback position. And not just because they’re extremely unlikely to still be in the game by age 36, but because even the first year or two could reveal a dip in performance. The contract comes with $60 million guaranteed at signing. Thigpen had clearly earned his stripes by the time he signed a five-year, $21 million deal with the Tennessee Titans — finishing off an excellent six-year run in Pittsburgh that saw him top 1,300 receiving yards twice. Sean Gilbert skipped the entire 1997 season rather than play for Washington under a franchise tag. That reputation is likely what drove Washington to drop $35 million on seven years of his services, probably assuming they were sewing up their safety position for years to come. While their disastrous decision to trade away a decade’s worth of quality draft picks for Jay Cutler might be among the most damaging, it was their effort to replace him that produced the biggest contract bust in recent NFL history. But, the timing of those seasons is the real sticking point for Philadelphia Eagles fans. There are more than a few quarterbacks on this list, including several who — like Flynn — managed to score a very big, multiyear deal in spite of having never really been a starter. There aren’t a lot of people who could legitimately say they were a star kick returner in the NFL. He has lived in just about every corner of the United States at one point or another, and he has been covering sports and sports betting for the better part of a decade. The Seahawks offered him a three-year, $19.5 million contract that offseason. Taylor is a sports writer based in Southern California. He was off the roster by what would have been the deal’s third year. Thigpen had clearly earned his stripes by the time he signed a five-year, $21 million deal with the Tennessee Titans — finishing off an excellent six-year run in Pittsburgh that saw him top 1,300 receiving yards twice. He would start just 6.25% of the games he signed on for, leaving the Jaguars probably wishing they had Joey Porter, instead. With 50 players/contracts selected and salaries adjusted for inflation to 2020 dollars, GOBankingRates scored each contract across the following factors: (1) average yearly value of the contract; (2) dollars per game sourced by taking the inflated-adjusted average yearly value of the contract and dividing it by total games played for the duration of the contract; (3) total percent of games played created by dividing games played against the maximum possible games during the contract; (4) percent of games started; and (5) average approximate value per year. After playing backup to Peyton Manning in Denver, Osweiler finally got his chance when he made seven starts in 2015. Kearse managed a passable 15 sacks over his next two seasons and then suffered a terrible knee injury in the third that left him unable to truly return to form. But Archuleta was just not the same guy in D.C. Nobody can fault him for that, of course. That’s because the unquestionable pinnacle of Murray’s career — a monster 1,845-yard season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2014, for which he earned NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors — was also what convinced Philadelphia to offer him a five-year, $40 million contract prior to the 2015 season. So, when Smoot was up for free agency in 2005, the Minnesota Vikings tempted him away with a six-year, $34.7 million contract. highly paid players eating up a spot on their roster? Gilbert would start just 56 of the 112 games he signed on for. Patrick Mahomes didn’t just break Ryan’s old record to become the NFL’s highest-paid player. When it comes to basketball coaches, the name Larry Brown carries a long, storied legacy. While he’s going to be making a boatload of money in the meantime, there’s a pretty decent chance his contract looks like a downright bargain by the time we get to 2025-26. For one, there’s no single, consistent statistical measure that can be compared across positions. News of Mahomes’ record-breaking deal got us to thinking about some of the other big-money contracts that have been handed out in recent years.