Surveying the NFL's Stickiest Contract Situations This Offseason

With OTAs just about in the books and very early depth charts forming, it's time to take a look at some players whose contracts probably make their teams' general managers wince and reach for the Pepto-Bismol.

These contracts may not have all been bad ideas at the time (though some were definitely that), and some of them may not be a problem next year. But all of them have put their teams into tight corners this year.

Sometimes it causes money problems, and sometimes it's a contract that clouds a roster spot.

Although sometimes, it's just a bad contract.

Some of these contracts will be problems just this year—others perhaps longer.

All of them are situations where the team might be wishing it had a parachute to bail out of it with.

Mark Sanchez, QB, New York Jets

On the one hand, the Jets are at the end of the contract—after this season they can cut Sanchez loose with no real repercussions.

That said, 2013 is an ugly year for a contract extension that probably shouldn't have happened in the first place.

This season sees the Jets on the hook for $8.25 million for Sanchez, which is bad enough for a guy who we all know isn't the future of the franchise. The team is also strapped to $17.153 million dollars in dead money—for a guy who isn't even guaranteed a starting job.

"

League source: #Jets expected to retain QB Mark Sanchez into preseason, let him compete for starting job. Sanchez to show up for work tomw.

— Bob Glauber (@BobGlauber) April 28, 2013"

All this does is cloud the picture for the quarterback position. Sanchez has had to "compete" before, and it hasn't amounted to anything. The Jets know he isn't their future, and yet, he's been paid an enormous amount of money anyway.

And we know that he's not the future because they went out of their way to sign a guy they thought was healthy enough to step in short-term in David Garrard and drafted a potential starter in the second round with Geno Smith.

With Garrard retired and Smith a rookie who definitely has some growing to do as a quarterback, we could see Sanchez on the field yet again for the Jets. And even if we don't, his contract represents a pretty significant hit for the team—the second biggest cap hit for 2013.

This for a player who could very well be the backup—all because they flirted with Peyton Manning and felt bad about it.

Kids, this is why you don't decide to buy your significant other a big-ticket item when he or she catches you looking around the bar. It's never good to buy out of guilt.

At least this is the end of it.

Or is it?

We know head coach Rex Ryan has stuck with Sanchez when he shouldn't (see all of last year). Who's to say we don't have this same conversation again next year?

Marcedes Lewis, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars

Marcedes Lewis had just 540 yards and four touchdowns last season, which is up from the zero touchdowns and 460 yards he had in 2011 right after he signed his brand new contract.

Lewis is also the sixth highest paid tight end this year and seventh in average salary.

His 2013 base salary is more than Jay Witten's, more than Tony Gonzalez's, more than Rob Gronkowski's or Jimmy Graham's.

Now, the Jaguars have had a pretty bad offense in that same span Lewis has underachieved, but whereas other tight ends (and players) have stepped up and risen to the level they are paid at (please see Calvin Johnson)—regardless of the rest of the offense's struggles—Lewis really hasn't.

Lewis' base goes up to $6.7 million next year, but he will have cleared the dead cap his contract had stuck to it and could be cut. Or he could have the contract restructured, which I find more likely.

He hasn't lived up to his contract yet, and if he fails to again this year, the team may have to make a few hard choices.

Mind you, compared to the $9 million in dead money the team is responsible for because of former receiver Laurent Robinson's contract, Lewis' hit is almost pocket change.

Zach Miller, TE, Seattle Seahawks

Marcedes Lewis isn't the only overpaid tight end on this list, right Mr. Miller?

Zach Miller was a beast for the Oakland Raiders but seems to have left his mojo on the plane flight to Seattle.

Part of that is because the Seahawks use him as more of a blocker than a receiver.

Still, for a guy making more base money than any other tight end this year and whose contract averages in at seventh yearly for the position, you don't expect to have to say, "He just doesn't fit what they're doing now."

Miller is a very well-rounded tight end who can certainly still catch the ball and make plays.

However, he's an expensive player who isn't doing what he was brought in to do, and it's not clear if there are any plans to change that.

Seattle has done a great job of managing the cap space it has—it carried over $13.2 million from 2012—which allowed it to trade for and sign Percy Harvin, as well as sign Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett.

Still, there's only so much juggling you can do, and having a player as high priced for his position as Miller is but not getting anything from him is a problem.

I'm a big fan of Miller's potential and hope the Seahawks find more for him to do.

For right now though, Miller's $6.8 million base from this year ($11 million total cap hit)—and even the $4.8 million base next year ($7 million total cap hit)—is a lot of weight to carry for a blocker with good hands.

Santonio Holmes, WR, New York Jets

Two Jets on this list seems almost cruel, but whereas I will entertain arguments that Mark Sanchez's situation isn't all that bad since they can cut him next offseason, Holmes' contract is a big anchor around this team's neck.

Holmes has been both less productive and more divisive than the team expected when it acquired him, and he's costing it a boatload of money.

This is a guy who has the fourth highest base salary in the NFL for 2013 and averages the 10th highest salary year-to-year.

His production has been way below that in the three years he's been a Jet, never topping 1,000 yards and never scoring more than eight touchdowns.

Sure, he was hurt last season, and yes, Sanchez isn't exactly Joe Montana, but still, a top wide receiver is paid that way because he can produce even when things are tough.

When things are tough, Holmes gets nasty—with his teammates.

He's not a leader in the clubhouse or the field, either with his play or anything else.

The Jets might be tempted to move on from him if it wasn't for a contract nobody will want to touch, including $15 million in dead money they're stuck with anyway.

Right now it seems as though the Jets and Holmes are stuck together and can only hope they find a way to make things work.

The problem is, Holmes is so well-paid that they have to keep him on the field long-term, regardless of his actions.

Because the only thing worse than overpaying a player is overpaying him to sit on the bench.

Jon Beason, LB, Carolina Panthers

Since signing his five-year extension in 2011, Beason has played in just five games because he's been hammered by injury.

That makes it, in some ways, unfair to judge this contract as a problem, since we have no idea if he's going to be effective. That makes it hard to decide what needs to be done with the contract, if anything.

It was more manageable when Beason was making under $2 million in base salary—plus another $4 million as a signing bonus—but now that his base jumps up to $5.25 million, the team could find itself in a difficult spot: especially since Beason's contract goes up again in 2015 (to $7.5 million) and 2016 (to $8.75 million).

It's going to get very expensive to keep Beason around much longer if he's not performing—which is tough to do when you can't stay on the field.

With Luke Kuechly playing so well as a rookie last year, how long will the Panthers carry such a weighted contract when they might not need to if they have effective, cheaper and healthier options?

If he can stay healthy—and that's a huge "if" at this point—Beason still strikes me as a guy who can play well.

It's just an awful lot of money to spend on that big of an "if."

John Carlson, TE, Minnesota Vikings

We'll start this slide by saying that due to renegotiating, John Carlson's contract isn't as bad as it was last year.

If you think that's damning it with faint praise, it is.

The signing of Carlson in the first place had all the signs of an awful idea. While Carlson had a tremendous rookie season in 2008, he had never been able to replicate those numbers. In fact, he went backwards, getting less productive each year—save from year one to year two when he added a pair of touchdowns to his total.

Now, as is happening with Zach Miller, Carlson did see a lot of time blocking for the Seattle Seahawks, and that certainly hurt his numbers. However, when he did get opportunities, he rarely made much of them.

His time in Seattle ended with an injury, after which the Vikings saw fit to sign him for a mind-numbingly huge five-year, $25 million contract.

What they saw on tape I'm not sure, but one has to assume they felt he had been misused by Seattle and would do great things for quarterback Christian Ponder.

That didn't happen, as Carlson struggled with concussions and knee issues and never seemed to be on the same page as the offense when he did play.

Maybe it's unfair to base observations on 16 targets for eight catches and 43 yards, but when you make as much money as Carlson did in 2012, you get more grief.

As I said, they did restructure to get some much needed cap relief, but he's still due to get his $1.2 million guaranteed for this year, and details have not been forthcoming on what the restructured contract actually is.

Whatever it is, as of now, it's too much. And while the team can probably opt out sooner than later, it's a roster spot and cap money it could have used in another area.