An outlet called Athlon Sports ( I have no idea who that is either but they made a fun list) published an interesting list on Instagram. They listed what they believe are the worst contracts in each sport. Even if I have no idea how reputable this outlet is, it sparked some fun conversation between me and some buddies yesterday. Here is the list.
First of all, I immediately ignored the MLB and NHL. The MLB has no salary cap so in my opinion, there is no such thing as a "bad" contract. It is a free market. If an owner of a team thinks a player was worth that amount, that's on them. There are no rules preventing the owner from fixing their mistake by signing other good players (there is technically "revenue sharing" and a luxury tax but it's only billionaires' money so what do I care). I left out NHL because I'm just not knowledgeable about it to say if a contract is good or bad. But when it comes to the NBA and NFL I have all sorts of opinions!
First of all, hands down, the worst contract on this list (and in my opinion the worst contract in the history of professional sports) is Deshaun Watson's. The second the Browns signed him to this deal, my draw dropped. He was just involved in a huge scandal in Houston. The Texans simply had to get rid of him. He was a pariah who was going to be suspended for 11 games of the 2022 season. Basically any team could have had him for a song. But for some reason (probably because they are the Cleveland Browns) , the Cleveland Browns gave up 3 first round picks, 1 third round pick and 2 fourth round picks for him. Then they signed him to the largest guaranteed contract in the history of the NFL. They gave him a full guarantee even though this was incredibly rare in the NFL. They signed him for 5 years and $230 million dollars. No one knows why they did that for a guy who would be suspended for the first 11 games of the contract. And then they had to trust he wouldn't do anything else wrong. That wasn't even counting his performance on the field. He had to avoid controversy and play up to a $46 million annual salary. WTF?!?! Sure enough he has not performed. For that $230 million he has played in 19 of 48 games. Statistically, he is the worst quarterback in the last 15 years. And the eye test may show he is even worse. And the Browns can do nothing. They can't trade him or cut him. They are SCREWED.
To me the 2nd worst contract on here is Patrick Williams of my beloved Chicago Bulls. This one was simply bizarre. The Bulls drafted this Florida BENCH player 4th overall in the 2020 NBA draft. In his first 4 years in the league, he showed absolutely nothing. He was either hurt or under-performing. So instead of using his 5th year as a way to see if he could earn a big contract, the pulls inexplicably decided to give him a 5 year $90 million contract. Who were they bidding against? No one. No one wanted him yet that paid a huge premium for him. In a league with a salary cap and sever penalties for going above it, this deal directly hurt me as a fan. A good way to gauge a deal is to ask "would other teams give him this deal"? For both Watson and Williams the obvious answer is "God no!"
I don't know about you, but this image does not scream, "I'm going to get a $180 million before this thing even heals."
The 3rd worst is Kirk Cousins. And its not exactly because of his past performance. Although I have always seen him as nothing more than a stat compiler who does nothing when a game really matters, one can argue he has good numbers. I'll concede that point. But when Atlanta signed him to a $180 million deal, he was a 35 year old quarterback who was coming off a torn Achilles tendon. $45 million appears to be the going rate for a starting QB so I guess it i snot too outrageous... until you factor in the draft. It is almost like the Falcons did not interview this guy before signing him. It's like they got him in the building and they were like "Oh my God this guys is an incredible douche. What were we thinking? We better go draft a 25 year old rookie QB with the 8th overall pick in the draft!" I mean, holy shit! They threw away $180 million and then had to spend that draft capital. Yikes. And sure enough, it only took 12 games to realize that in addition to Cousins being a douche, he was also completely washed.
Aside from those, I'm not very passionate about the rest of the list aside from one exception. But first a word on Bradley Beal. Yes his deal is horrendous for the Phoenix Suns. But that deal was not signed for the Phoenix Suns. Beal has a deal meant for a horrible team who needs a reason for fans to come to games. In other words it was a perfect deal for the Washington Wizards. Beal could put up meaningless stats and anyone who chose to go to a game could see some highlight plays. This only became a horrible deal when the Phoenix Suns did the unthinkable and chose to trade for him. that was simply stupid or insane. And they have paid the price.
Now for the other one I actually care about. Jaylen Brown. The dude was just named NBA Finals MVP last year. Ummmmm if you lead your team to a Championship it is impossible to be overpaid. I garauntee you every Boston Celtics fan would happily chip in a few bucks in order to thank Brown for being such a huge part of a Championship. So that one has no business on this list. Especially when the Chicago Bulls gave Lonzo Ball $40 million for trying really hard to come back. Again, who were they bidding against?
How about all of you? Is there anyone on teh list who stands out to you? Anyone missing?