The most overpaid players in the NFL

A fine fullback, probably the NFL's best. But Juszczyk more than doubles every other salary at this antiquated position. His four-year, $21 million 49ers pact tops the next closest fullback (in average earnings) by $3.1M. The two-time Pro Bowler rates as Pro Football Focus' top 2018 fullback, though only five teams have used a fullback enough to qualify for a grade. The 49ers don't have many high-priced salaries on their payroll, allowing them to afford this. But it's a goofy expense. 

This is obviously not Berry's fault, but since signing a safety-record six-year, $78 million deal with the Chiefs, he's played in one game and missed 22. The three-time All-Pro earned the contract with one of the best seasons by a safety in recent memory — a two-touchdown, one two-point conversion return 2016 — but tore his Achilles tendon in Week 1 of last season and has seen a painful heel injury prevent him from practicing for the past two-and-a-half months. Closing in on his 30th birthday, Berry will have a hard time justifying this deal after missing so much time due to multiple injuries.

The Broncos' Paxton Lynch pick placed them in a difficult spot. The investment failing so badly restricted a then-championship-caliber defense for two years and prompted John Elway to authorize $25 million guaranteed for Keenum on a two-year deal. The Vikings landed the journeyman QB for $2M last year, and his DVOA mark led all QBs. The 30-year-old passer has shown flashes but has been a disappointment in Denver. The low-level starter/high-end backup has thrown an interception in each game and now has nine — second-most in the NFL and two more than he had all of last season. 

The former top-five pick's struggled with injuries for years but has been intermittently productive. Ansah rebounding from a two-sack 2016 to record 12 (nine of those coming in three games) last season induced the Lions to use their franchise tag on their top edge rusher. Ansah is making $17.1 million but has played in part of only one game this season, going down with a shoulder injury in Week 1. He'll potentially have the second half of this season to show he's worthy of a longer-term pact as a likely 2019 free agent, but it will be an uphill battle.

Another case of a player deserving a contract but his body soon betraying him. Glenn was an unheralded, yet rock-solid, left tackle during his rookie-deal years (2012-15). The Bills then franchise-tagged Glenn and signed him to a five-year, $60 million pact in 2016. Unfortunately, Glenn began to experience persistent ankle and foot trouble that season. Because of these issues, Glenn missed 15 games from 2016-17 before the Bills traded him to the Bengals, who'd squandered multiple recent tackle investments. Glenn's still attached to this contract and has not yet returned to his early-years form.

The defensive line market wasn't deep in free agency this year, and Lotulelei benefited. The Bills gave a player who hadn't been particularly productive in a while a five-year, $50 million contract. Lotulelei makes nearly double what Kyle Williams currently does but hasn't graded out well since his early years with the Panthers. The massive Tongan nose tackle sits in 83rd place among interior defenders, in Pro Football Focus' view, through seven Bills games, though it's obvious the Bills see value where the advanced metrics community doesn't.

Khalil Mack's Bears deal raised the salary ceiling for edge defenders, and the contract Vernon signed in 2016 played a role in pushing the market to where it is. Von Miller received $19 million per year, in part because such an inferior player signed for $17M on average months earlier. Vernon doesn't have a double-digit sack season as a Giant and, after playing every game from 2012-16, has now missed nine contests over the past two years. The Giants made Vernon the NFL's highest-paid outside linebacker (he's still third on this list) and have not seen enough to justify the payment.

Quinn produced one of the most dominant pass-rushing campaigns of the 21st century in 2013. He recorded 19 sacks and forced seven fumbles en route to first-team All-Pro honors. The Rams gave Quinn a four-year, $57 million deal the following year, and he's shown his peak season was an outlier. He did register 10.5 sacks in 2014 but missed much of the next two years due to injuries. The Rams traded Quinn and his near-$15M-per-year salary to the Dolphins. He has a sack this season but has gone without another in the past five games. Quinn remains a starter — just an overpaid one. 

After recording the second-most sacks in a season in NFL history (22) in 2014, Houston signed a six-year, $100 million extension to stay in Kansas City just before the 2015 franchise tag deadline. Houston hasn't come close to replicating the season that got him paid. Knee injuries sidetracked the All-Pro outside linebacker in 2015 and '16, and although he registered 9.5 sacks last season, Houston has not been worth that Chiefs-record contract. He's dealing with more injury trouble amid Kansas City's dominant start, too, missing the past two games.

One of the NFL's best tight ends, Reed lands here only because he's one of the league's least durable players. Reed had already shown an injury-prone pattern prior to signing a five-year, $46.8 million deal during the 2016 offseason. He made it through a career-best 14 games and posted 952 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015, enticing Washington to extend him. A 2016 Pro Bowl nod followed, but that season included four missed games. In 2017, Reed missed 10. Fortunately, he's played in all six Washington contests this season. Reed has plenty to do to live up to his contract.

The No. 3 overall pick in the loaded 2011 draft, Dareus has not been the same player since the Bills shifted to a 3-4 defense in 2015 — the year they gave the defensive tackle a six-year, $95.1 million extension. Dareus registered 10 sacks in 2014 as a 4-3 nose tackle. He doesn't have that many in the three-and-a-half seasons since. The Alabama product, who's been suspended on multiple occasions, has no sacks or QB hits this season. While sacks are not everything for an interior defender, Dareus being back in a 4-3 set with Jacksonville and having one sack in 16 Jaguars games is not good. 

A quality cornerback, just not a dominant one. But Johnson is certainly paid like an All-Pro, despite having gone 0-for-6 in Pro Bowls during his career. The Rams used their franchise tag on Johnson in 2016 and '17, last year resulting in a $16.7 million salary, and the Jets then signed him to a five-year, $72.5M deal in March. Johnson is the NFL's second-highest-paid cornerback and the only corner on the Forbes List. The Jets could end up regretting this deal as they did with the 2015 Darrelle Revis reunion.

Present for the earthquake that's been Jon Gruden's return to Oakland, Carr may be in his final weeks as a Raider. The fifth-year quarterback finished third in the 2016 MVP race in a 28-TD, six-INT season featuring several Raiders comebacks in a 12-4 year. The Raiders made Carr the NFL's first $25 million-per-year player in 2017, but a back injury slowed him last year and the Gruden train wreck has him possibly on the outs in Oakland. While Carr's yards per game (297.2), yards per attempt (7.7) and completion percentage (71.7) are up under Gruden, the partnership doesn't seem to be working out.

Cobb has maximized his value as an NFLer. The former second-round pick had his best season in his 2014 contract year: a 1,287-yard, 12-touchdown campaign. That's been Cobb's only 1,000-yard showing in seven years. It resulted in the Packers giving their slot receiver a four-year, $40 million contract. But instead of cutting bait after Cobb submitted back-to-back sub-700-yard slates in 2016-17, Green Bay cut Jordy Nelson and will end up paying Cobb all of the $40M on his contract. It hasn't worked out for the team, but Cobb did well here. 

The Jaguars picked up Bortles' fifth-year option in 2017 and saw him undergo surgery that would've ensured that 2018 option ($19 million) would vest. They signed their maligned quarterback to an extension rather than explore a deep QB market this year. Bortles has proved woefully unqualified for such an investment and is dragging down the Jaguars. This three-year, $54M deal is not an onerous pact, but the Jags letting it get to a point where they re-signed the first-round bust at all looks bad — because Bortles at $18M a year is considerably overpaid. 

Gresham signed a four-year, $28 million deal to stay with the Cardinals in 2017. This doubled his previous contract in terms of average annual salary. It has not produced what the Cards hoped and didn't make too much sense in the moment. Gresham caught 37 passes for 391 yards and two TDs in 2016 — well off his Pro Bowl years' pace with the Bengals — and recorded just 322 receiving yards last season. He's not known as a plus blocker, either. Even prior to Gresham tearing his Achilles in Week 17 of last season, the tight end's contract wasn't correlating with his performance. 

After the Giants failed to sign All-Pro guard Andrew Norwell, they threw money at the next best blocker in free agency. At $15 million per year, the 30-year-old Solder is the NFL's highest-paid offensive lineman. He of zero Pro Bowls, Solder is not rewarding the Giants for their investment. The ex-Patriot left tackle has allowed 4.5 sacks in seven games, more than he permitted in 16 games last season. The Giants have experienced rampant offensive line trouble in recent years, and new general manager Dave Gettleman repeatedly vowed he'd address the problem. Solder hit free agency at the right time.

By no means a below-average cornerback, Norman just isn't worthy of being the position's highest-paid player. He signed a five-year, $75 million deal in 2016 — in a $155M salary cap year, making such a pact more costly than it is today on a $177M cap — but has not played like a true No. 1 corner. A contract-year wonder with the 2015 Panthers, Norman was primarily a zone corner in Carolina. The one-time Pro Bowler has been the NFL's highest-paid corner for more than two years and may be a cap casualty in 2019. 

Norman, but with less accolades. Collins, too, is a talented defender. And unique circumstances also led to him becoming his position's highest-paid performer. The Browns in 2017 were flush with cap space and coming off a 1-15 season; they had to overpay for talent. Collins benefited in the form of a four-year, $50 million contract. His $12.5M-per-year average is well north of every other 4-3 outside linebacker, but the sixth-year player has made one Pro Bowl (with the Patriots), missed 10 games last year and is not producing nearly enough to be paid like this.

Perhaps the strangest contract authorized during what's been an extreme seller's market for offensive linemen over the past few years, Kalil played just two games for the Vikings in his 2016 contract year and was labeled a first-round bust prior to that. The Panthers, who've long employed Matt's older brother (center Ryan Kalil), still gave the left tackle a five-year, $55.5 million deal. Matt Kalil did not play particularly well in 2017 and has not suited up in 2018 due to injury. Good for a player to cash in like this, but his salary is a bit much.

Had Austin not restructured his contract earlier this year, he may have been No. 1 on this list. The Rams signed the former top-10 pick-turned-gadget player to a surprising four-year, $42 million extension (with $28.5M guaranteed) in 2016. Wild underachievement followed. After a disappointing 2016 (509 receiving yards on a terrible Rams offense), Austin barely saw the field for Sean McVay's rejuvenated attack last season and recorded just 47 receiving yards. Traded to Dallas for a sixth-round pick, Austin is making $7M this season. He's recorded five or fewer receiving yards in four Cowboys games.

The Chiefs' cap management hasn't been great, and they're receiving Super Bowl buzz without much help from some highly paid personnel. The most ill-advised deal: paying their offense's No. 4 option $16 million per year. The Chiefs signed Watkins to a three-year, $48M deal ($30M guaranteed) after he did not fare well in a Rams contract year. A fine No. 2 wideout (346 receiving yards in seven games) but it's a ridiculously lavish luxury for a team that will soon have to pay No. 1 target Tyreek Hill. No team currently employs two WRs making $12M per year, so the 2019 Hill-Watkins setup should be interesting.

The maligned Ravens quarterback has stepped up his game a bit this season but still has been one of the league's most overpaid players for years. Following a virtuoso Super Bowl run in 2012, Flacco signed the richest contract in NFL history. He then ventured back to a below-average passer but in 2016 redid his deal and received a then-new-money per-year record ($22 million). Flacco finished 19th in Total QBR in 2016 and 25th in 2017. His improvement aside, he's 17th in that metric this season and remains a poor sport when asked to play wide receiver. 

Burfict has been one of the NFL's better outside linebackers when available, but this contract was a stunner when it happened and looks worse a year later. The Bengals gave Burfict a three-year, $33 million extension, which is top three among 4-3 outside 'backers. But the consensus dirtiest player in the league is a massive risk, having been suspended for a total of nine games over the past three seasons. Burfict, whose one-Pro Bowl resume adds to the oddity of this expense, also missed 11 games in 2014 and six in 2015. This is a ridiculous contract and a bad look for the franchise.

Bradford's career has not unfolded as many expected, but his financial history allows for no sympathy. The final No. 1 pick on the previous CBA, which paid first-rounders far more handsomely, Bradford signed a six-year, $78 million Rams deal in 2010. He suffered two torn ACLs, but upon being traded to the Eagles rebounded and signed for two years and $36M. The Cardinals, though, guaranteed Bradford $20M after more knee trouble limited him to two games in 2017. They benched him in Week 3. Bradford is presumably healthy now, though the contracts are almost certainly coming to an end.