Every NFL Team's Most Overpaid Player Following Peak 2025 Free Agency

Few significant deals are left to be signed this NFL offseason, which means we can settle in and judge the moves made so far.

One fun annual judgement is assessing who are the league's most overpaid players.

Here's a team-by-team rundown. Salary information courtesy of Spotrac.

AFC East

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Tua Tagovailoa

Buffalo Bills: Edge Joey Bosa 

Hate to rag on the exciting new signing, but $12.6 million is a heck of a price tag when you've got Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa, and when we're talking about a guy who hasn't started double-digit games or posted double-digit sacks since 2021. 

Miami Dolphins: QB Tua Tagovailoa

The injury risk is high and he has failed to rise to the occasion in too many cases, and yet the 27-year-old is earning $53.1 million per year (the sixth-highest mark in NFL history). That's not good considering he has never won a playoff game and doesn't appear well-positioned to do so in 2025.

New England Patriots: Edge Milton Williams

I'm not necessarily faulting the cap-rich Pats for this gamble, but there's no doubt a four-year, $104 million contract is a massive overpay for a 25-year-old third-round pick who has just 19 NFL starts under his belt and has never sniffed an All-Pro or Pro Bowl nod. 

New York Jets: CB Michael Carter II

The recipient of a three-year, $30.8 million contract extension last year, Carter was on the field for just 32 percent of the Jets' defensive snaps in 2024. The 26-year-old 2021 fifth-round pick isn't a liability, but he doesn't make much of an impact for that kind of money.

AFC North

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Mark Andrews

Baltimore Ravens: TE Mark Andrews

The veteran managed 11 touchdown catches in 2024, but he isn't the player he used to be and his mistakes have cost the Ravens dearly. That combined with the emergence of Isaiah Likely makes it hard to justify Andrews' $14 million AAV as the fifth-highest-paid tight end in the game.

Cincinnati Bengals: WR Tee Higgins

I wrote in this spot last year that the $21.8 million franchise-tag rate is silly for a player who has never gone over 75 catches, 1,100 yards or seven touchdowns in four non-Pro Bowl campaigns. He did score 10 touchdowns in 2024, but the rest remains true for a player now making $28.8 million per season.

Cleveland Browns: QB Deshaun Watson

The 12th-highest-paid player in football (and highest in terms of guaranteed money) has thrown 19 touchdown passes since the end of the 2020 season, and he's unlikely to add to that total in 2025. 

Pittsburgh Steelers: Edge Alex Highsmith

It's beginning to look as though the 2020 third-round pick peaked with 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in 2022 before earning a four-year contract worth $17 million per season. Since then, he's put up 13 sacks and three forced fumbles in two years combined. He's good and could still take off at 27, but he's not a star. 

AFC South

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DeForest Buckner

Houston Texans: DT Denico Autry

Only a role player at this point in his career, the 34-year-old is coming off his least impactful season in about a decade. But he will still count $10.3 million against the cap in 2025 as Houston's 10th-highest-paid player.

Indianapolis Colts: DT DeForest Buckner

Hate to go this route because the three-time Pro Bowler can be dominant at times, but inconsistency has become a problem for a 31-year-old who hasn't been an All-Pro since 2020 and remains one of the 10 highest-paid defensive tackles in the league with a $26.6 million cap hit looming for 2025.

Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Trevor Lawrence

He's the third-highest-paid player in league history, and yet the Jags have won a total of 22 games with Lawrence in the four seasons since they drafted him No. 1 overall in 2021. In that span, the injury-prone and inconsistent 25-year-old has been the league's fifth-lowest-rated qualified passer.

Tennessee Titans: OT Dan Moore Jr. 

Moore surrendered a league-high 12 sacks in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, and he's never been near a Pro Bowl while posting so-so grades throughout his four-year career. He was only a fourth-round pick in 2021, and he's looked like a borderline starting-caliber player for much of his career to date. I have no idea why the rebuilding Titans handed him a four-year, $82 million deal earlier this month.

AFC West

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Christian Wilkins

Denver Broncos: WR Courtland Sutton

There are no egregious contracts on the payroll for this well-built team, but Sutton's isn't great. The 29-year-old has not gone over 1,100 yards since he was a sophomore in 2019, but he's slated to count $20.2 million against the cap in a walk year in 2025. 

Kansas City Chiefs: TE Travis Kelce 

The decline is glaring for a 35-year-old who has scored just eight touchdowns the last two years combined and remains the highest-paid tight end in the NFL with a $19.8 million cap hit for 2025.

Las Vegas Raiders: DT Christian Wilkins

The 29-year-old has never been an All-Pro of any kind or even a Pro Bowler, he's never posted an approximate value in the double digits and has never had a campaign with 10 sacks or more than two forced fumbles. And yet, his $27.5 million average annual salary is the second-highest among defensive tackles leaguewide. This was an awful signing last offseason.

Los Angeles Chargers: Edge Khalil Mack

The 34-year-old is back at a price of $18 million for 2025, which is extreme considering his limitations as an over-the-hill situational player who has been held to fewer than 10 sacks in five of his last six campaigns. 

NFC East

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DeVonta Smith

Dallas Cowboys: QB Dak Prescott

The 31-year-old's four-year, $240 million contract is one of the worst in sports. He's been a part of two playoff wins in his career, has missed large chunks of three of the last five seasons and struggled even when healthy in 2025. 

New York Giants: OT Andrew Thomas 

The sixth-highest-paid offensive tackle in the game has a five-year, $117.5 million contract but has played just 16 games the last two years and only really shined in one of his five pro seasons. 

Philadelphia Eagles: WR DeVonta Smith

Smith is a very good player, but he's a clear-cut No. 2 receiver who has averaged about 1,000 yards per season and never scored more than eight touchdowns in a campaign. Yet his $25 million AAV makes him the 12th-highest-paid player at his position. 

Washington Commanders: CB Marshon Lattimore

The 2024 deadline acquisition didn't suddenly get it back in a new setting down the stretch in 2024, and that's unlikely to change as he hasn't really been a reliable NFL presence since 2021. The 28-year-old's best days are far behind him, but he will cost Washington $18 million as the eighth-highest-paid cornerback in the league in 2025.

NFC North

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Cole Kmet

Chicago Bears: TE Cole Kmet

A four-year, $50 million contract makes the 26-year-old the seventh-highest-paid tight end in the league, which is pushing it for a guy with zero 800-yard seasons and 19 total touchdowns in five years as a pro. He is also coming off his least-productive season since he was a rookie in 2020. 

Detroit Lions: DT Alim McNeill

I thought about going with $53 million quarterback Jared Goff based on his playoff implosion this past season, but he's earned a bit more benefit of the doubt the last couple years. Instead, we'll go with a promising and talented defensive lineman who has yet to fully deliver and is now dealing with a torn ACL. When will McNeill break through? The 24-year-old is due more than $85 million between 2026 and 2028. 

Green Bay Packers: CB Jaire Alexander

Alexander is one of the most talented corners in the league, but he has missed the majority of three of the last four seasons while earning $21 million per year on a four-year deal. There's a decent chance he's off this roster before the 2025 season begins.

Minnesota Vikings: DT Jonathan Allen

At 30 and beyond his prime following consecutive declining seasons, Allen somehow landed a three-year, $51 million deal with the Vikings in free agency. It's simply way too much money considering his trajectory and recent injury situation.

AFC South

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Alvin Kamara

Atlanta Falcons: QB Kirk Cousins

Incredibly, Atlanta just paid a $10 million roster bonus to Cousins, who is a backup quarterback both on paper and in terms of the caliber of his play. The 36-year-old led the NFL in interceptions in 2024 and will cost the team at least $75 million the next two years regardless of his fate (barring a trade, but come on...). 

Carolina Panthers: CB Jaycee Horn

For a short time, Horn was the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history. It's ridiculous that a player who has one interception the last two seasons and surrendered six touchdowns in coverage in 2024 is now making $25 million per year.

New Orleans Saints: RB Alvin Kamara

He may have bounced back to a degree in 2024 and have some gas left in the tank, but Kamara is no longer a consistent difference-maker and is owed nearly $29 million over the course of the next two seasons. The 29-year-old is no longer in a position to be one of the five highest-paid backs in the NFL, but here we are.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: CB Jamel Dean

The six-year veteran was frequently burned in coverage in 2023 and was not a No. 1-caliber corner last year. He isn't much of a playmaker, either (three interceptions total in the last three seasons), and he's simply not living up to a four-year, $52 million contract.

NFC West

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Nick Bosa

Arizona Cardinals: DT Justin Jones

The 28-year-old zero-time Pro Bowler missed nearly all of his first season with the Cardinals due to a torn triceps. Before that, he was a good-not-great starter for the Chargers and Bears. A three-year, $10.4 million AAV is a bit much, but there are no albatrosses on this payroll. 

Los Angeles Rams: WR Tutu Atwell

I don't mind the gamble on a make-or-break one-year deal for Atwell, but $10 million is still a wild amount of green for a guy who's never had 50 catches or 600 yards in a single campaign and has four total touchdowns in four pro seasons. 

San Francisco 49ers: Edge Nick Bosa

The Deommodore Lenoir deal is a little over the top, but we'll focus on the third-highest-paid defensive player in the game. Bosa is awesome, but his production has fallen off markedly in back-to-back seasons. It's fair to wonder if the 27-year-old peaked as Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. If so, that five-year, $170 million contract will become problematic. 

Seattle Seahawks: Edge Uchenna Nwosu

The 28-year-old capitalized on a breakout 2022 season by landing a three-year, $45 million extension, but he was never a star before that in Los Angeles and he's been plagued by injuries ever since. Seattle isn't getting much return on its investment.