5 biggest one-year contracts in NFL history ft. Tom Brady and Dak Prescott

#3 - Philip Rivers - $25 million

Philip Rivers spent the first 16 years of his 17-year NFL career with the Los Angeles Chargers. He has established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in Chargers franchise history after his long and successful run with the organization.

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Rivers ended his career with the Indianapolis Colts for just one year and helped them make an appearance in the playoffs during the 2020 NFL season. He joined the Colts on a one-year contract worth $25 million and officially announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season.

#2 - Dak Prescott - $31.409 million

Dak Prescott played out the entire four years on his initial rookie deal with the Dallas Cowboys. It was worth less than three million dollars in total. After failing to come to an agreement with the Cowboys on a long-term contract extension during the 2020 offseason, he received the franchise tag worth more than $31 million for the season.

Dak Prescott holds the record for the largest franchise tag signing in NFL history. He set another record the following year when he signed a four-year contract worth $40 million in AAV, the largest contract by AAV ever when he signed it.

#1 - Kirk Cousins - $35 million

Kirk Cousins has become somewhat of a legend of the one-year contract. He currently owns three of the top twelve largest one-year contracts in NFL history, including the top spot. His first two were a result of being franchise tagged by the Washington Commanders, while the third came from a contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings.

Cousins initially joined the Vikings in 2018 on a three-year deal worth $84 million. He then signed a two-year extension worth $66 million, followed by an additional one-year deal worth $35 million.

About the author

Adam Hulse is an NFL journalist at Sportskeeda with 4 years of experience. He is also the host of the podcast "Sports Talk with Adam Hulse."

Adam studied Communications at Villanova University and played American football at Pop Warner and as a high school Freshman. His favorite team are the Dallas Cowboys, and if Adam could lay his hands on a time machine, he would love to witness their glory years from the 1990s. The Cowboys' 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX is his favorite Super Bowl of all time.

Given his affinity for 'America's Team,' Adam's favorite players of all time include Emmitt Smith. Michael Irvin, Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

Adam takes a lot of pride in his work, which naturally culminates into insightful content for his readers, performance analysis being his forte. When not writing about football, Adam spends a time on his podcast.

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Edited by Windy Goodloe