Heres the good the bad and the ugly among 2020 NFL contracts
The NFLs financial landscape is being assessed through awards for the eighth straight year on CBSSportscom with the regular season in the books These awards differ from the traditional NFL honors because they are from an economic perspective emphasizing 2020 veteran acquisitions
Players acquired by trades or in free agency can have a tremendous impact on an NFL teams fortunes Rookies werent given any consideration because their salaries are a function of draft position and the rookie wage scale The same applies to players who signed restricted free agent tenders since the amounts are set by the NFLs Collective Bargaining Agreement A runner up is named when warranted
Most Valuable Acquisition Tom Brady
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians was intent on upgrading at quarterback after going 7 9 in 2019 with Jameis Winston Tampa Bay landed Brady with a fully guaranteed two year $50 million contract worth a maximum of $59 million with incentives
Getting Brady has paid immediate dividends Brady was the catalyst for the Buccaneers transforming from playoff pretender to Super Bowl contender A 13 year playoff drought ended with Tampa going 11 5 in the regular season to secure an NFC wild card playoff berth Three straight road playoff wins have put the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV
Brady continued to defy the odds by keeping Father Time at bay The 43 year old completed 657 percent of his passes for 4633 yards third in the NFL with 40 touchdowns second in NFL and 12 interceptions to post a 1022 passer rating ninth in NFL Bradys 40 touchdown passes were his second best single season mark and his most since 2007 when he had a career high 50
There are $45 million of annual incentives in Bradys contract $225 million are for individual performance The remainder are based on Tampa Bays playoff success
Brady earned $562500 each for ranking in the NFLs top five in touchdown passes or throwing at least 25 touchdowns and passing yards Because Brady participated in least 75 percent of Tampa Bays offensive plays 9543 percent playtime he made $500000 for the Buccaneers qualifying for the playoffs another $250000 for the team beating the Washington Football in a wild card playoff game an additional $500000 by eliminating the Saints in the divisional playoffs and an extra $500000 by winning the NFC Championship Game A Super Bowl LV victory is also worth $500000 Brady has earned $2875 million of the $45 million in incentives to date
Runner Up Stefon Diggs WR Bills
Least Valuable Acquisition Vic Beasley
The Titans signed Beasley to a one year $95 million contract which included a $6 million signing bonus to improve a weak pass rush The deal was worth as much as $12 million because of $25 million in incentives Inexplicably Beasley didnt show up for the first 10 days of training camp which resulted in $500000 of fines and voided the guarantees of his $35 million base salary
The Titans released Beasley in early November seven games into the season Beasley was a non factor in the five games he played He failed to generate any sacks and only had seven quarterback pressures combined sacks quarterback hurries and quarterback hits in limited action Beasley made $7852941 during his short stint with the Titans
Offensive Signing of the Year Derrick Henry
The Titans designated Henry as a franchise player for $10278 million last March after a 2019 season where he led the NFL in rushing 1540 yards and tied for the leagues most rushing touchdowns with 16 Henry really made his mark in the playoffs during the Titans run to the AFC Championship Game He became the first player to ever have two games of at least 180 rushing yards in the same postseason Henry also set an NFL record for the most rushing yards during a playoff run not including the Super Bowl with 446 His 1487 rushing yards per game this postseason is the fourth best mark ever in any single playoffs
The Titans signed Henry to a four year $50 million contract with an additional $1 million in incentives right before the July 15 long term deal deadline for franchise players The first two years worth $255 million are fully guaranteed
Henry picked up where he left off during the playoffs last season He became the eighth player in league history to rush for 2000 yards in season en route to winning his second straight rushing title Henrys 2027 yards are fifth on the all time list He also led the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns Henry is the first player with back to back 1500 rushing yard seasons since Larry Johnson accomplished the feat in 2006
Runner Up Tom Brady QB Buccaneers
Defensive Signing of the Year DeForest Buckner
The Colts gave the 49ers the 13th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to get Buckner who was scheduled to play under a $12378 million fifth year option Buckner was given a four year $84 million contract extension averaging $21 million per year with $56378 million of guarantees in connection with the trade The deal made Bucker the NFLs second highest paid interior defensive lineman
Buckners 95 sacks were third in the NFL among interior defensive linemen behind Aaron Donald and Leonard Williams who had 135 and 115 sacks respectively with the Rams and Giants After being snubbed for the Pro Bowl Buckner earned first team All ProAll NFL honors from the Associated Press and Pro Football Writers of America
Biggest Steal Nelson Agholor
Agholor signed a one year deal worth $1047500 after a disastrous 2019 season with the Eagles playing out his rookie contract He benefitted tremendously from the change of scenery Agholor helped fill the void created by Tyrell Williams missing the season because of a shoulder injury After primarily being used in the slot the last couple of years in Philadelphia Agholor showed his deep threat capabilities He was second in the NFL with 187 yards per catch He had 48 receptions for 896 yards with eight touchdowns The 896 yards are a career high Agholors production was comparable to or better than some wide receivers making between $95 million and $1075 million per year Tyler Boyd Jamison Crowder Sterling Shepard
Runner Up Jason Verrett CB 49ers
Best Use of a Contract Year Garett Bolles
Bolles was a disappointment in his first three NFL seasons The 2017 first round picks claim to fame was leading the NFL in holding penalties in each of those seasons
Bolles struggles led to the Broncos declining a fifth year option for him in 2021 worth $11064 million resulting in 2020 becoming his contract year Denvers plan was for Elijah Wilkinson to compete with Bolles at left tackle until right tackle JaWuan James opted out of the season because of concerns about COVID 19 This meant Bolles would remain as Denvers starting left tackle
Bolles elevated his play to a Pro Bowl level In turn the Broncos signed him to a four year $68 million contract extension with $40 million of guarantees in late November making him the NFLs fifth highest paid offensive lineman at $17 million per year
Runners Up Trey Hendrickson Edge Saints
Worst Use of a Contract Year Cam Newton
A lack of interest after Newtons release by the Panthers in March led him to sign a one year deal with a base value of $175 million worth up to $75 million through incentives Newton appeared to be on his way to resurrecting his career after being plagued by foot and shoulder injuries over the previous two seasons when he tested positive for COVID 19
Newton performed so poorly initially upon returning to action from the coronavirus he admitted he could be benched with continued subpar performances His play improved somewhat but nobody was confusing the 2020 Newton with the 2015 NFL MVP version In fairness Newtons offensive weapons left a lot to be desired Tom Brady started showing his age in 2019 his last for the Patriots with a similar group Newton completed 658 percent of his passes 242 of 368 attempts for 2657 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions to post an 829 passer rating in 15 games He remained one of the NFLs biggest running threats at quarterback by rushing for 592 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns
Newton failed to re establish himself as a legitimate starting quarterback The Patriots are expected to go in another direction next season Newtons consolation prize is earning $2 million of his incentives for taking 8665 percent of New Englands offensive snaps
With there potentially being unprecedented passer movement in the upcoming offseason Newton will probably be left standing once the quarterback musical chairs stops His best chance of getting a starting spot may be a reunion with his former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera on the Washington Football Team The most likely scenario is Newton settling for the best backup situation that could eventually provide him a chance to play should the starting quarterback falter
Runners Up Vic Beasley Edge Titans Jadeveon Clowney Edge Titans AJ Green WR Bengals
Best Contract Extension for a team Travis Kelce
George Kittle spearheaded a long overdue re set of a stagnant tight end market in August with the five year $75 million extension averaging $15 million per year he received from the 49ers His $40 million in overall guarantees and $30 million fully guaranteed at signing are both the most ever in an NFL contract for a tight end
Within a few hours of Kittles deal being announced Kelce signed a four year $5725 million extension averaging $14312500 per year The two deals couldnt be more different although Kelce has $23 million in guarantees where $21 million was fully guaranteed at signing
Kelce had two years remaining on his contract for $1825 million which was signed in 2016 His deal set to expire after the 2021 season
The Chiefs got an extremely team friendly structure A pay as you go contract structure was used where a players cash and salary cap numbers are the same in each contract year because there isnt a signing bonus that would be prorated over the life of the contract for a maximum of five years
Kelces 2020 compensation stayed the same at $925 million which is unusual for a deal of this magnitude He is only receiving $425 million more over his remaining two years than if he played out the 2016 extension
Surprisingly Kelce has minimal guaranteed money after 2021 Only $2 million of his $65 million 2022 base salary which was guaranteed for injury upon signing becomes fully guaranteed that March on the third day of the league year This entire $65 million really should become fully guaranteed this March on the third day of the 2021 league year
The Chiefs have maximum salary cap flexibility because of how Kelces contract is structured Should Kelces skills rapidly start to diminish Kansas City can exit the deal as early as 2022 without any salary cap consequences
The deal is incredibly back loaded Kelce has $1175 million of new money through his first new contract year of 2022 It would have been $1165 million for Kansas City to designate Kelce as a franchise player in 2022 if he played out his contract which was going to be 120 percent of his 2021 cap number in the 2016 extension
Kelce has $25 million in new money over the first two new contract years through 2023 The $25 million is $630000 less than Kelce would have made playing under two straight franchise tags in 2022 and 2023
Quite frankly Kelce didnt get enough money in his remaining contract years or security to give up four years The Chiefs essentially have four team options with Kelce starting in 2022 his first new contract year
To add insult to injury Kelce had the finest season ever for a tight end He set the single season receiving yards record for a tight end with 1416 yards Kelces 105 receptions are the fourth most a tight end has had in a season His 11 touchdown catches tied for the league lead among tight ends
By being patient Kelce would have had the leverage to surpass Kittle as the highest paid tight end in league history this upcoming offseason after his incomparable production Kelce also became the first tight end to ever have two seasons in which 100 catches 1000 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions were reached The only other time this feat has been accomplished was by Dallas Clark with the Colts in 2009 Instead Kelces $14312500 average yearly salary is likely to serve as a ceiling with tight ends for the foreseeable future
Runner Up Patrick Mahomes QB Chiefs
Worst Contract Extension for a team Taysom Hill
Technically Hill didnt sign a contract extension The Saints placed a $4641 million restricted free agent RFA tender on Hill entitling them to a first round pick as compensation if an offer sheet signed with another team wasnt matched After Hill didnt generate any interest during the RFA signing period and his exclusive negotiating rights reverted back to the Saints he was given a two year $21 million contract worth up to $22 million through incentives with $16 million fully guaranteed in late April
Having Hill under contract for more than just his $4641 million RFA tender was a luxury not a necessity In essence the Saints valued the one unrestricted free agent year Hill gave up at $16359 million which is an exorbitant amount for someone who had been a jack of all trades contributor In addition to being a standout on special teams Hill lined up at running back wide receiver and tight end as well as taking snaps under center in wildcat formations
Hill started four games at quarterback during the 2020 regular season because of Drew Brees broken ribs and a collapsed lung Although Hill completed 727 percent of passes and the Saints went 3 1 the jury is still out on him being a full time starting quarterback because of his decision making on passing plays and issues with ball security
The Saints have the NFLs most challenging salary cap situation currently projecting to a $1122 million overage according to NFLPA data if the 2021 salary cap is set at the $175 million floor agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA Hills 2021 cap number is $16159 million with his $12159 million salary fully guaranteed
Had Hill played on the RFA tender the Saints would have more flexibility at quarterback for next season Its highly unlikely he would have generated a lot interest as unrestricted free agent given the potential quarterback supply and the 2021 salary cap likely decreasing from the current $1982 million level
Assuming Brees retires as expected Hill likely could have been re signed to one year deal for less than $8 million to compete for the starting quarterback job Nick Foles took a pay cut to $8 million with incentives after his offseason trade to the Bears who werent sold on Mitchell Trubisky The most the Saints would have needed to pay Hill over the two year period would have been $125 million rather the $21 million Hills 2021 cap number could have been in the $25 million neighborhood with a willingness to add four voiding or dummy years to the one year contract so his signing bonus could be prorated over five years It also would been easier to sign another quarterback to challenge Hill or make a run at an established quarterback via trade
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