5 worst current NFL contracts feat. Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson’s performances for the Denver Broncos have been abject. This has caused significant concern over his lengthy and expensive contract, but there are equally bad deals across the NFL.

Nathaniel Hackett will pay the price for the Broncos’ awful 2022 season with his job, but he can’t be blamed entirely.

Wilson has looked a shadow of his former self in the Denver offense, and he is tied down through 2028.

The NFL has a problem with contracts due to the design of salary cap rules. This, combined with the physical nature of the sport, makes long-term deals dangerous investments.

Positions make a difference to these valuations, with running backs being one of the highest paid offensive positions, but those players put the greatest amount of physical strain on their bodies.

Teams have overpaid one-season wonders before and will do so in the future, but there are a variety of factors which may render a contract a disaster.

The landscape in the NFL in 2022 is interesting, with wide receivers starting to be paid really eye-watering sums of money. However, this only applies to the very great ones.

Teams are becoming more frugal with receivers, especially ones nearing the end of their rookie deals, while they are overpaying in other positions.

Including Russell Wilson, what are the 5 worst contracts currently active in the NFL?

5. Carson Wentz – Washington Commanders ($128 million)

Carson Wentz is no longer a starter in Washington

While initially offered and signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, it is now the Washington Commanders who carry the burden of Carson Wentz’s contract.

Having agreed to a deal worth $128 million in total, the QB is exceptionally well-paid considering his output. While once a star in Philly, leading the Eagles to the playoffs, he has never recaptured his best form after knee injuries.

Washington traded for him after he was done in Indianapolis. He lasted just one year with the Colts before the franchise gave up on him.

His 2022 cap hit for the Commanders was around $28 million, although there is a break-clause at the end of 2022.

This is likely to be used with Wentz suffering another injury and then losing his starting spot to Taylor Heinicke.

If this out isn’t taken for whatever reason, Washington will then be committed to paying Wentz for two further seasons until 2025. His cap hit will be $26 million and $27 million in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

4. Jared Goff – Detroit Lions ($134 million)

Goff isn't seen as a Super Bowl solution anywhere in the NFL

Jared Goff was supposed to be the long-term quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. His arrival coincided with the move away from St. Louis, where he was supposed to define an era.

It all started so well. Goff performed exceptionally well as a rookie, and he even led the Rams to a Super Bowl, which they lost to the New England Patriots.

What followed was injuries and a loss of form that was similar to that of Carson Wentz.

He began to make mistakes and his confidence collapsed. This highlighted the limits in his technique. Eventually, the Rams gave up on him and moved for Matthew Stafford.

This trade sent Goff to Detroit in the opposite direction, landing the Lions with his hefty contract that was worth $134 million in total.

At times, he has threatened to return to his best form with the Lions, throwing for 6,597 yards in his two years at Ford Field, but he isn’t a Super Bowl caliber QB.

The Lions remain a poor team, and they know Goff won’t be able to take them deep in the playoffs, but his contract requires them to pay him like a star.

In 2022, he carried a $31 million cap hit, which limits the range of the rebuild in Detroit. There is a potential out at the end of the 2022 season, but Goff is probably better than any other QB the Lions could realistically get, unless they help Denver out with a trade for Russell Wilson in 2023.

If Goff is kept on, then he will hold a cap hit of $30.6 million and $31.6 million in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

3. Michael Thomas – New Orleans Saints ($96.2 million)

In the NFL your best ability is your availability, and Michael Thomas hasn't had that for three years

The decision to pay Michael Thomas $96.2 million wasn’t a bad one. The New Orleans Saints needed to pay their most productive offensive player what he was worth.

What has developed since he put pen to paper is what has made the contract problematic.

At his best, Thomas was arguably the number one receiver in the NFL. He was a standout performer, yet in the past two seasons he has barely been on the field.

From 2017 to 2019, Thomas made the Pro Bowl three times. In 2019, he caught 149 passes and led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,725.

Nobody could touch him. He was inevitable, and he got his money. Not a single eyebrow was raised as Thomas was signed to such an expensive five-year contract. Yet, in 2022, the Saints are desperate to get out of it.

In 2020, injuries hit for Thomas. He made just seven appearances and caught for 438 yards. He then missed the entire 2021 season with an ankle injury which was so devastating that it carried into 2022.

His long-awaited return for the Saints was both ineffectual and short-lived. Thomas made three starts and caught for 170 yards, all before injuring his toe. It required surgery, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Whilst restructuring some guaranteed money into signing bonuses has limited the pit the Saints are in, Thomas has been a cap hit of $10 million and $13 million in 2021 and 2022, despite offering nothing on the field.

In 2023 and 2024, he will have a cap hit of $28 million and $27 million, and there are no guarantees he will play regularly.

2. Ezekiel Elliott – Dallas Cowboys ($90 million)

Elliott is an expensive bit-part player in Dallas' recent success

Ezekiel Elliott burst onto the scene as a generational running back for the Dallas Cowboys in 2016. His rookie year was sensational, and everything seemed set for a life of stardom.

However, there has, perhaps, been no bigger victim than the change of attitude toward running backs than Elliott himself.

The physical toll on players in the position makes offering them record contracts a huge gamble. Unless you can play as a receiver like Deebo Samuel, you have little chance of being retained as a specialist running back in 2022.

There are obvious exceptions, like Derrick Henry, but the understanding is that running backs slow down quicker than any other position.

One of the most popular methods to counteract this has been a reintroduction of the ‘run by committee’ gameplan, which uses two feature backs and splits carries between them.

With Elliott’s injuries and form making for uncomfortable reading, Dallas have elected to make their offense more unpredictable by utilizing the dual-back system.

Zeke hasn’t made the Pro Bowl since 2019, and in 2022, he hasn’t managed to rush for 100 yards in a single game, yet he is being paid a contract worth $60 million.

This isn’t money well spent, especially for a Cowboys team that believes in their roster and wants to keep the key parts together.

Signing Micah Parsons to a second contract may break the bank if Zeke isn’t traded, especially with his deal carrying a minimum of $14 million in cap hits every season until 2026.

1. Russell Wilson – Denver Broncos ($242.6 million)

The move to Denver couldn't have gone any worse for Russell Wilson

Nobody saw this coming. When Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos in the offseason, it was a move that everyone liked.

Russell Wilson’s career had gone stale in a struggling Seattle Seahawks offense that needed rejuvenation. Wilson didn’t have time to wait, and the Broncos roster was stacked, especially in defense.

A five-year deal worth a total of $242 million wasn’t seen as risky. Expensive, of course, but many assumed Wilson would play at a level worthy of the money.

However, Russell Wilson hasn’t. It has been a disaster with the Broncos sat with a 3-10 record and already looking at options to try and shift the contract off their books.

Wilson will be almost 40 when the contract with the Broncos ends, and he obviously isn’t going to get any better.

This was a deal for now, and the fact it has been so disastrous in 2022 is a real worry.

There isn’t even a potential out for Denver until after the 2025 season, and by that time, Russell Wilson will be contributing a cap hit of over $55 million.

Given his performances in 2022, nobody is going to take that contract on, and it limits the possibilities for Denver to put elite pieces around Wilson.

He was supposed to make their offense finally click. Instead, it has just presented a new problem.

Given the sheer lack of options and wriggle room for the Denver Broncos, it is difficult to suggest that there is a worse contract in the NFL right now than that given to Russell Wilson.