May 16, 2022
John McCreary/USA TODAY Sports
During his introductory press conference in Washington, Carson Wentz threatens to throw 20 left-handed passes in 2022.
There are a lot of bad contracts in the NFC East. So let's rank the top 10 and get all riled up about it, shall we?
Prescott is easily the best quarterback in the NFC East, but he's also in the $40 million club along with much better quarterbacks.
On the surface, when Prescott got his deal done, it didn't seem that bad — four years, $160 million, with $126 million in guarantees, including a $66 million signing bonus.
After playing on the franchise tag in 2020, Prescott was having an outstanding season when he suffered a serious leg injury and was lost for the year. The Cowboys' season subsequently went into the toilet. Because Prescott held all the leverage in negotiations, there was reason to believe that he might get more than the $40 million per year he received, so in that sense, this was something of a minor win for the Cowboys to at least keep it at that number.
However, the benefits of this deal to Prescott are in the details, and they are significant. It's only a four-year deal, which means that as the salary cap increases and quarterbacks push the market even higher over the next few years, the Cowboys and Prescott will be right back at the negotiation table two years from now, when Prescott can score yet another top-of-the-market quarterback contract, since this deal reportedly will not allow the Cowboys to franchise tag him again.
Prescott has had the benefit of playing behind a great offensive line and star receivers for most of his career, but the Cowboys have failed to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs.
Are they on a track toward never-ending NFL purgatory?
When the Eagles signed Brooks away from Houston in 2016, it was one of the best free agent signings they ever made. However, in the aftermath of his retirement, Brooks will affect the Eagles' salary cap going forward. Technically, Brooks is still on the roster. He'll "officially" retire soon after June 1.
Retirements work in a similar way to releases. Normally, if a player is released, whatever guaranteed salary is left on his deal, and any prorated bonus money that has already been paid out to the player will remain on the team's salary cap.
If a player retires, he does not get paid his salary (duh) or any roster bonuses, but any prorated bonus money already paid to the player that has not yet counted toward the salary cap will, you know, count toward the salary cap. There have been some occasions in which teams have attempted to recoup signing bonus money after a player unexpectedly retired, but that was never going to happen in Brooks' case, given his laundry list of major injuries and his contributions to the team.
Brooks was originally scheduled to count for $19,439,235 on the 2022 salary cap. The Eagles would be left with $15,736,472 in dead money with an outright release and/or retirement. However, they will spread out his dead money hit over two seasons ($5,939,235 in 2022, and $9,797,237 in 2023) by keeping him on the roster until after June 1 (contract details via OTC).
So to be clear, this isn't an indictment on Brooks in any way, but the bottom line remains that he'll count on the cap for a big chunk of money after his career is already over.
After a disappointing first five years in the NFL, Williams had a very good 2020 season in which he had 11.5 sacks. He cashed in during the 2021 offseason, landing a three-year deal worth $63 million. He had a lot of tackles (83) and 6.5 sacks on a terrible team in 2021. Still, while a good player, he's the second-highest paid interior defensive lineman in the NFL behind only Aaron Donald.
Prior to the start of the new league year, the Tennessee Titans cut Jackson because they didn't want to pay him $10.2 million for one year on his fifth year option. The Giants subsequently signed him to a three-year deal worth $39 million, which is significantly more money, and for a longer period of time. Had they simply thrown the Titans a conditional seventh-round pick before Tennessee cut him, the Giants could have had him on a less expensive deal with a shorter commitment. Even if Jackson were some sort of stud corner, the process of that acquisition made no sense.
Jackson is the 15th highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. He has three INTs in five seasons, and is bad in run support.
Samuel signed a three-year contract worth $34.5 million last offseason, a questionable choice at the time that now looks awful. In 2021, he played in five games, and had six catches for 27 yards.
Lawrence used to be a lot higher on this list, but he took a pay cut this offseason in exchange for the Cowboys fully guaranteeing his salary in 2023, making his contract a little more palatable to Dallas. Still, in the three years since signing a five-year deal worth $105 million, Lawrence has 14.5 sacks.
There are 61 (!) other players with at least 14.5 sacks over that span.
The Eagles should have traded Cox before the season last year in anticipation of his continuing decline at a time when the financial penalties would been much more palatable. They did not, and instead restructured his contract for immediate cap relief, kicking the can down the road. Oh and hey, they might have even gotten something decent in return for him.
Cox proceeded to have the worst year of his career in 2021, when he had 35 tackles and 3.5 sacks, missing the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2014. He also openly griped about his role in Jonathan Gannon's defense, and at times looked disinterested on the field.
This offseason, the Eagles released Cox, taking on a big dead money cap hit that will eventually be a significant burden on the 2023 cap. It would have been fine if the Eagles just shook hands and parted ways with Cox, but instead, they then signed him to a brand new contract separate from the old one worth $14 million, an insane price for a player who will turn 32 during the season, and who is already in clear decline, at a position where the team was already strong.
In an otherwise logical offseason by Howie Roseman and the Eagles' front office, this is the one move that is very hard to understand.
Last offseason, the Giants signed Golladay to a four-year deal worth $72 million, and $40 million guaranteed. At the time, that contract tied him with the Chiefs' Tyreek Hill and the Browns' Odell Beckham Jr. as the sixth-highest paid wide receiver (based on AAV) in the NFL. Even after the explosion of wide receiver contracts this offseason, Golladay is still the 13th highest-paid receiver in the NFL.
The Giants gave Golladay that contract even after an injury-riddled 2020 season in which he had 20 catches for 338 yards and two TDs. After signing his contract in 2021, he proceeded to have a season in which he caught 37 passes for 521 yards in 14 games. He does not yet have a TD as a Giant.
Elliott's cap number in 2022 is $18,220,000. The next closest running back is Derrick Henry, at $15,000,000, and then Dalvin Cook, at $11,883,625.
Elliott has only been in the league for six years. He's still only 26 years old (he turns 27 in July), and partly because of over-usage early in his career, he is already very clearly not anywhere near as explosive as he once was. Fun fact: There is only one running back (Mark Ingram) currently on an NFL roster with more career touches than him. 🤯
Zeke is only 104 touches behind Ingram, despite Ingram playing five more seasons.
The Indianapolis Colts somehow, some way unloaded Carson Wentz on another team. After trading first- and third-round picks for him with disastrous results last offseason, the Colts were amazingly able to salvage a return on their bad investment.
As a reminder, the Commanders acquired Wentz for the following package of picks.
When the details of the draft pick compensation were revealed, my immediate thought was, "Oh the Colts must have eaten a big chunk of his pay."
Nope! The Commanders took on Wentz's salary in full, lol, and he'll count for a little over $28 million on the 2022 cap.
He is the 11th highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.com, after he was arguably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL in 2020, and after he choked away a surefire playoff berth with a pair of dreadful performances to close Indy's 2021 season.
The loss to the Jaguars Week 18 was particularly devastating, as Wentz completed 17 of 29 passes for 185 yards, one TD, and one INT, though the numbers didn't adequately convey how ineffective he was. He also lost a fumble on a vintage "2020 Wentz" play in which he tried to throw a shovel pass instead of just eating a sack.
At the NFL Combine, Colts general manager Chris Ballard could barely muster a kind word while answering a bevy of questions about Wentz, while owner Jim Irsay has taking any opportunity possible to bash him. Wentz was certain to be outright released by the Colts. Instead, the Commanders swooped in and paid an absolutely insane price — both financially, and in terms of draft pick compensation — to acquire him. It's amazing really how this stupid franchise manages to so consistently top itself, both on and off the field.
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