7 worst contracts in the NFL in 2023 feat. Deshaun Watson’s $230,000,000 albatross deal with Browns
Through Week 9 of the 2023 NFL season, Deshaun Watson's first full campaign with the Cleveland Browns wasn't inspiring much confidence. But in Week 10, the controversial quarterback delivered one of his finest performances for the franchise, as he helped his team come back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Baltimore Ravens on the road.
But in a cruel twist, the win over the Ravens would be the last game Watson plays this season. He suffered a shoulder fracture in the second quarter of the game and while he managed to finish it, he was forced to undergo surgery, ending his season.
Watson has played only 12 games since joining the Browns in the 2022 offseason and signing a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract extension. He featured in only six last season due to an 11-game suspension stemming from the sexual misconduct accusations levied on him by over two dozen women.
Through 12 games, Watson has 2,217 passing yards, 317 rushing yards, 14 passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, nine interceptions, and six fumbles. He has failed to live up to his $230 million price tag, but he isn't the only player performing well below expectations.
Worst NFL contracts currently
7. Aaron Jones - Four years, $48 million contract
Running back Aaron Jones is in the third year of the four-year, $48 million extension he signed with the Green Bay Packers before the 2021 season. The veteran has only 231 rushing yards and two touchdowns this season.
Jones has been relegated to second string behind AJ Dillon, who has 376 rushing yards and one touchdown. The Packers restructured his contract in the offseason to stretch the cap hit, which will be $17 million next year. The extension hasn't proven fruitful to either the team or the player.
6. Von Miller - Six years, $120 million contract
The Buffalo Bills' decision to hand a six-year contract to a 33-year-old Von Miller seemed baffling from the offset. The edge rusher was no longer the unstoppable force who won the Super Bowl MVP in 2016.
He got off to a good start in his debut season with the Bills in 2022, racking up 20 tackles and eight sacks in 11 games before suffering an ACL tear that ended his campaign. In six games this season, Miller has managed only two tackles and no sacks. The Bills took a risk, and it has failed to pay in the way they expected. His contract is certainly among the worst contracts in NFL.
5. Derek Carr - Four years, $150 million contract
The Derek Carr experiment has been a failure for the New Orleans Saints. The franchise believed they had finally found Drew Brees' successor when they landed the former Las Vegas Raiders star. But the veteran has failed to be a significant upgrade on Andy Dalton, who started 14 games for the Saints last season.
Carr has a lower pass completion percentage and averages only 18 more passing yards than Dalton in 2022. While the latter earned only $3 million last year, Carr will make $37.5 million on average until at least 2025. The 5-5 Saints are currently sitting atop the NFC South standings, but the team and Carr have had an extremely underwhelming season.
4. Jimmy Garoppolo - Three years, $72.75 million contract
The Raiders replaced Derek Carr with Jimmy Garoppolo and hoped his reunion with head coach Josh McDaniels would reinvigorate his career. Only eight games into the season, McDaniels was fired, and Garoppolo was benched.
The quarterback threw for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns, and nine interceptions in his six appearances. Since benching Garoppolo and handing rookie Aidan O'Connell the keys to the offense, the Raiders are 2-0. The veteran quarterback will be traded or cut before the 2024 NFL season.
3. Russell Wilson - Five years, $245 million contract
Russell Wilson is enjoying a bounce-back season under new head coach Sean Payton after a horrendous 2022 campaign. He has 18 touchdown passes this season, two more than he did in 15 games last season, and his interception rate has also gone down significantly (11 in 15 games in 2022, four in nine games in 2023).
While the improvements are promising, they do not justify Wilson's $49 million-per-year contract. He's averaging only 200.7 passing yards per game, ranking 23rd in the league. In his first three seasons with the Broncos from 2012 to 2014, Peyton Manning averaged 309.7 passing yards per game. Wilson is playing in the most passer-friendly era of the NFL and is still struggling to rack up passing yards.
2. Daniel Jones - Four years, $160 million contract
After three underwhelming seasons, Daniel Jones finally had a good campaign in year four in the NFL. He ended the Giants' six-year wait for a playoff appearance and had a terrific game against the Minnesota Vikings in the Wildcard Round. The Philadelphia Eagles ended the Giants' season with a comprehensive win in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Jones had built up enough notoriety, despite averaging only 200.3 passing yards, the lowest mark of his NFL career, to land a four-year, $160 million deal. But ten weeks into the 2023 season, Jones' contract extension is looking like a massive blunder. He averaged 151.5 passing yards, and threw for two touchdowns and six interceptions, before suffering a season-ending ACL injury in Week 9. Handing a quarterback $40 million per year after only one good season is a rough look for the Giants.
1. Deshaun Watson - Five years, $230 million contract
It's hard to argue against Deshaun Watson's contract being the worst in the NFL in 2023. By the end of the league's year, the Browns would have already paid $92 million for only 12 games. That's $7.67 million per game for 184.8 passing yards and 26.4 rushing yards. 14 touchdown passes, nine interceptions, and an 81.7 passes rating are massively underwhelming numbers for the price tag the Browns are paying.