Ranking 10 Worst Contracts in NFL Ahead of 2025 Season

Post-draft free agency can be an intriguing time in the NFL because it brings the potential for bargains. Recently signed players like J.K. Dobbins, Germaine Pratt and Nick Chubb—and recently released players like Jaire Alexander—have the potential to provide a ton of value on team-friendly deals.

Players signed at this point in the offseason might not generate many headlines, but they're far less likely to be massively overpaid than those added in the early offseason frenzy.

Unfortunately, some contracts we've seen in recent years have been flat-out bad deals for the teams involved. We're here to examine that end of the contract spectrum and rank the 10 worst active contracts entering the 2025 season.

This list will involve some subjectivity, but factors like annual salary, contract length, contract clauses and, of course, player performance were all considered. We'll never criticize a player for getting as much as he can, but for the teams that signed them, these 10 contracts are proving to be poor investments.

[Dis]Honorable Mentions

AP Photo/Mike Stewart

Kirk Cousins

Before we dive into the list proper, let's examine a few contracts that may also come to mind when considering bad deals but that aren't quite bad enough to qualify as disasters.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Atlanta Falcons

Was it wise to give a four-year, $180 million contract that included a $100 million guaranteed and a no-trade clause to a 35-year-old quarterback coming off a torn Achilles? Probably not. It made even less sense with the Atlanta Falcons clearly considering 2024 quarterback prospects—they went on to use the eighth overall pick on Michael Penix Jr.

Atlanta is now saddled with a $40 million backup who can't be dealt unless he agrees to a deal. However, the Falcons did give themselves time to develop Penix and can get out of Cousins' deal next offseason—they'll absorb $45 million in dead money but can save $12.5 million in 2026 cap space by cutting Cousins.

Robert Hunt, G, Carolina Panthers

It's hard to knock the Carolina Panthers too much for some of their recent free-agent signings because bad teams typically have to overpay to land top talent.

That said, guard Robert Hunt wasn't exactly a star when Carolina gave him a five-year, $100 million deal during the 2024 offseason. He was a mostly reliable starter but missed time with a hamstring injury in 2023 and, to that point, had never made a Pro Bowl.

Hunt did make the Pro Bowl with Carolina last season and was ranked a respectable 37th overall among guards by Pro Football Focus. However, he has a long way to go to justify a deal that has him tied for fourth among guards in terms of annual salary.

Tre'von Moehrig, S, Carolina Panthers

The Panthers overpaid again this offseason when they signed Tre'von Moehrig to a three-year, $51 million deal that includes $34.5 million guaranteed. The 26-year-old developed into a fairly reliable starter for the Las Vegas Raiders but hasn't established himself as a top-tier player yet.

Moehrig allowed an opposing passer rating of 92.5 in 2024 and was graded 59th overall among safeties by Pro Football Focus. To land him on the open market, Carolina made Moehrig the league's sixth-highest-paid safety in terms of yearly value and gave him more guaranteed money than all but four NFL safeties.

10. Chase Young, Edge, New Orleans Saints

AP Photo/Peter Joneleit

Contract Terms: three years, $51 million with $33 million guaranteed

New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has spent the last several offseasons kicking contracts down the road. This put New Orleans in a tricky cap situation to open the 2025 offseason.

The Saints were $8.5 million over the cap just a few days before free agency began.

Yet Loomis still found the money—and the reasons—to sign pass-rusher Chase Young to a deal worth $17 million annually with $33 million guaranteed. Fans have every right to wonder why.

Paying $17 million per season for an upper-tier pass-rusher isn't egregious. However, Young hasn't been a Pro Bowl player since his 2020 rookie season. He recorded 7.5 sacks that season, hasn't topped that number since, and has logged just 14.5 sacks over the last four years.

Now, Young showed promise with the Saints on a one-year prove-it deal last season. While he only recorded 5.5 sacks, he logged 34 quarterback pressures. However, New Orleans is a team that lacked cap flexibility before Derek Carr's retirement—it now has $29 million in cap space with Carr off the books—and still decided to give top-20 edge money to a player who has shown far more potential than production through five seasons.

9. L'Jarius Sneed, CB, Tennessee Titans

AP Photo/John Amis, File

Contract Terms: four years, $76.4 million with $51.5 million guaranteed

It's easy to understand the rationale behind the Tennessee Titans' 2024 trade to acquire cornerback L'Jairus Sneed. Good cornerbacks are hard to find, and Sneed had excelled in Steve Spagnuolo's defense with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Still, it was odd to see Tennessee immediately give a 27-year-old corner who had never been to a Pro Bowl a deal worth $19.1 million annually—which has him as the league's 11th-highest-paid cornerback a year later.

Players surrounded by talent in a championship-caliber defense don't always replicate their success in a new home, and that's how things are trending with Sneed. Pro Football Focus graded him 212th overall among 222 cornerbacks for the 2024 season, a campaign that was cut short after five games by a quad injury. He's missed time this offseason with a knee injury.

"We’re waiting for him to show us the player that he’s been," head coach Brian Callahan told reporters at the start of mandatory minicamp. "He hasn’t reached that level of play for us."

If Sneed is unable to bounce back this season, Tennessee can cut him in 2026 and save $11.9 million in cap space, though it would have to eat $20.1 million in dead money to do so.

8. Bradley Chubb, Edge, Miami Dolphins

AP Photo/Doug Murray

Contract Terms: three years, $54.5 million with $33.5 million guaranteed

To be fair, this contract was a lot worse before Bradley Chubb agreed to take less money on a revised deal in March. When the Miami Dolphins first acquired him via trade and then extended him in 2022, Chubb inked a five-year, $110 million deal that included $53.2 million in guarantees.

That was a lot of money to give a pass-rusher with 26 sacks and one Pro Bowl on his resume. It was probably a bad deal, given Chubb's significant injury history—which may have foreshadowed issues in Miami.

Chubb was limited to four games in 2019 by a torn ACL and played just seven games in 2021 before undergoing ankle surgery. He made it back to the Pro Bowl in 2022 and had 11 sacks in 2023 but missed the entire 2024 season after tearing the ACL, meniscus and patellar tendon in his right knee the previous December.

Could Chubb get back to double-digit sack production in 2025? Possibly, and his revised deal does give Miami some added flexibility. However, the Dolphins have still guaranteed $33.5 million over the next three years to a soon-to-be 29-year-old second-tier pass-rusher who has struggled to stay on the field.

For a franchise that may be closer to a reset than a deep playoff run, that's a bad deal.

7. Brandon Aiyuk, WR, San Francisco 49ers

AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn

Contract Terms: four years, $120 million with $76 million guaranteed

To be fair, the San Francisco 49ers probably lament this deal more because Aiyuk suffered a significant knee injury months after signing it. His recovery from a torn ACL and MCL could extend well into the 2025 season.

"He's still in the middle of it. So, he's working through that," head coach Kyle Shanahan said, per David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone.

Missed time aside, the deal wasn't great for San Francisco. The 49ers were pressured into offering it by Aiyuk's offseason holdout and trade request, but there's no getting around the fact that the 49ers overpaid.

Aiyuk had flashed high-end potential in his first four seasons. He topped 1,000 receiving yards in 2022 and had 1,342 receiving yards in 2023. However, he had yet to establish himself as a top-tier receiver or a perennial Pro Bowler.

Desperate to hang onto its playoff-caliber core, San Francisco gave AIyuk a massive four-year deal that still has him as the league's eighth-highest-paid receiver in terms of annual salary.

With all due respect to Auyuk, he's not the NFL's eighth-best wideout. He showed that by failing to live up to his contract, when healthy, this past season. Aiyuk had just 374 yards and no touchdowns in seven games.

Making this deal even worse is the fact that the 49ers don't have a clean out until 2027, when they can eat $21.2 million in dead money to save $20.2 million in cap space.

6. Jaycee Horn, CB, Carolina Panthers

AP Foto/Jacob Kupferman, archivo

Contract Terms: four years, $100 million with $72 million guaranteed.

As previously noted, bad teams like the Panthers often have to overpay in free agency. In this instance, however, Carolina massively overpaid to give one of its own an early extension.

Horn, a 2021 first-round pick out of South Carolina, was a Pro Bowler in 2024. However, while he had an impressive 13 passes defended last season, he also surrendered six touchdowns and allowed an opposing passer rating of 92.7 in coverage.

Pro Football Focus graded Horn as the league's 82nd-best cornerback overall for the 2024 season.

Now, Horn is a quality starter who will turn just 26 in November. However, he's not truly elite, and he missed significant time in 2021 and 2023—with foot and hamstring injuries, respectively. He played just 13 games in 2022 and 15 in 2024. When he signed an extension worth $25 million annually, he was, at that time, the league's highest-paid corner in terms of yearly salary.

Horn still ranks second among all corners in terms of annual value.

Giving Horn such a massive deal after just one good (and mostly healthy) season was an unnecessary gamble. The contract might look reasonable in a few years, but that will require Horn to stay healthy and improve as a player. Carolina had the opportunity to allow Horn to further prove himself on the fifth-year option in 2025 and, if necessary, via the franchise tag in 2026.

Instead, the Panthers opened their pocketbook early and bet big on Horn's ceiling.

5. Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Chicago Bears

AP Photo/Abbie Parr

Contract Terms: four years, $72 million with $50 million guaranteed

Tremaine Edmunds, a 2018 first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills, was a two-time Pro Bowler in Buffalo before the Chicago Bears signed him to a hefty contract in 2023 free agency.

Now, Edmunds hasn't been a complete bust for the Bears. He's topped 100 tackles in each of his two seasons with the franchise while allowing an opposing passer rating below 90.0 in coverage. He has certainly had his moments.

Edmunds has not, however, been a Pro Bowl-caliber player or helped turn Chicago's defense into a top unit. Pro Football Focus graded Edmunds as the league's 119th-best linebacker overall for the 2024 season.

In other words, Edmunds has been good but not great when at his best for the Bears. In return, Chicago is paying the 27-year-old as if he was an All-Pro-level off-ball linebacker.

Among inside 'backers, only San Francisco standout Fred Warner is earning more annually than Edmunds.

The silver lining here is that Chicago can cut the final year of Edmunds' deal next offseason and save $15 million in cap space while absorbing just $2.4 million in dead money.

4. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins

AP Photo/Maria Lysaker

Contract Terms: four years, $212.4 million with $167.2 million guaranteed

On one hand, the Dolphins' decision to extend Tua Tagovailoa after the 2023 season made sense. He was a 26-year-old quarterback who had just led the league in passing yards and earned his first career Pro Bowl nod. Set to play on the fifth-year option in 2024, the extension window was open.

However, the deal Miami offered Tagovailoa wasn't logical. While he had stayed healthy in 2023, he had a lengthy injury history that included multiple concussions. He had also yielded no playoff success to go with his prolific-when-healthy passing numbers.

Tagovailoa had a 63.9 passer rating in his lone postseason start and had played in just 53 games over his first four seasons. It probably would have made more sense for Miami to allow Tagovailoa to play on the fifth-year option in 2024 or offer a shorter extension with less guaranteed money.

Why? Because the Alabama product hasn't proved that he can stay healthy or deliver when it matters most. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he missed more time in 2024 with another concussion and a hip injury.

Tagovailoa is one of the league's most accurate and efficient passers when at his best, but he hasn't made Miami a title contender or managed to consistently avoid injuries. He's simply too much of a risk to be worth a deal that includes more than $167 million guaranteed and makes him the sixth-highest-paid player in NFL history.

3. Dan Moore Jr., OT, Tennessee Titans

AP Photo/George Walker IV

Contract Terms: four years, $82 million with $50 million guaranteed

We've already established that bad teams often overpay to sign good players in free agency. In this case, however, the Tennessee Titans overpaid to land a player who might not even be considered "good."

While Dan Moore Jr. did start 66 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers and plays the all-important left tackle position, he's never played particularly well—there's a reason Pittsburgh drafted offensive tackles in the first round of consecutive drafts.

Last season, Pro Football Focus graded Moore as the league's 46th-best tackle and credited him for five penalties and 12 sacks allowed. That's not exactly the sort of pass protection that screams "franchise tackle."

No, Moore isn't being paid like a legitimate star lineman, but he's still being overpaid at $20.5 million annually.

The Titans entered free agency knowing that they were likely to use the No. 1 overall pick on Miami quarterback Cam Ward. Therefore, aggressively addressing the offensive line was logical.

However, there isn't a world in which Moore should be the league's 10th-highest-paid tackle in terms of annual salary, which he currently is.

2. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys

AP Photo/Jerome Miron

Contract Terms: four years, $240 million with $231 million guaranteed.

The Dallas Cowboys made a few mistakes when it came to Dak Prescott's 2024 contract extension. For one, they waited until just before the start of the regular season to get it done, which meant waiting until after QBs like Jared Goff and Jordan Love signed their own deals.

Then, Dallas made Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history by a fairly considerable margin. With a deal worth $60 million annually, Prescott makes at least $5 million more per year than any other player—including quarterbacks like Love, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen.

Lastly, the Cowboys believed that keeping Prescott happy and behind center would put Dallas in a position to win a Super Bowl.

"This is a shocker, to be here at this Super Bowl, and not have the Cowboys here," franchise owner Jerry Jones told The Athletic's Dianna Russini before Super Bowl LIX (h/t Bleacher Report's Julia Stumbaugh). "I didn't plan on that when I made that agreement."

The Cowboys, for the record, haven't advanced past the divisional round since 1995.

Now, Prescott has performed better than other players on this list, when healthy, anyway. He's a three-time Pro Bowler who was a viable MVP candidate in 2023. However, he's also 31 years old, has just two career playoff wins and has missed substantial time in three of his past five seasons.

Prescott is an above-average quarterback, but he has never been elite. There is no scenario, at this stage in his career, that he's worth $5 million per year more than any other player.

1. Deshaun Watson, QB, Cleveland Browns

AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File

Contract Terms: five years, $230 million, fully guaranteed

No one should be surprised by our No. 1 entry. In terms of annual value, Deshaun Watson's $46-million-per-year pact isn't outlandish for a quality starter—it ranks below players like Brock Purdy and Kyler Murray. The problem is that after trading for Watson in 2022, the Cleveland Browns gave him a fully guaranteed deal.

Now, Cleveland is not the first team to hand out a fully guaranteed contract to a quarterback. Kirk Cousins got a fully guaranteed three-year deal when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings back in 2018.

What made this fully guaranteed deal bad is the fact that Watson had just held out the entire 2021 season and faced 24 lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual assault or misconduct—he ultimately served an 11-game suspension in 2022.

Though Watson was a three-time Pro Bowler with the Houston Texans, trading for him was always a risk, one that cost Cleveland a massive package that included three first-round picks. Extending him on a fully guaranteed deal was a flat-out mistake.

With the Browns, Watson has struggled to stay on the field—he suffered two Achilles tears over the past calendar year—has played poorly when he's been healthy and hasn't shown the leadership or even the body language of someone who cares. He's looked a lot more like someone who has gotten his payday and is now going through the motions.

Things have been so bad that the Browns have essentially given up on Watson with two years remaining on his contract.

"We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun," franchise owner Jimmy Haslam said, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

Barring a massive surprise, Cleveland is set to pay out another $167.1 million for Watson to quietly go away. This isn't just the worst active contract in the NFL—it might be the worst deal in league history.

*Contract information via Spotrac.