On a weekly basis, I will be evaluating pass rushing defensive lineman that signed some sort of contract in this offseason. Players on-field performance will be evaluated against the annual salary of their new contract. In terms of on-field production, I will be taking into account stats relevant to the defensive end position such as percentage of defensive team snaps played, tackles, tackles for loss, sacks and hurries. The basis for contract evaluation will be the APY of a given player’s contract.
Jared Crick
John Elway’s revenge to the Texans for taking away Brock Osweiler came with the signing of Jared Crick. Ok, maybe not quite. But Elway continues to find diamonds in the rough to contribute to the Broncos stout defense. Over the first four years of Crick’s career, he totaled 5.5 sacks. In ten games this season, Crick already has two sacks and five QB hurries. While Crick’s play may be a byproduct of the Broncos dominant defensive line, Crick has proven to step right into his role and helped the defense at a reasonable value.
Quinton Dial
Quinton Dial signed a contract extension in the off-season that’s worth twice as much in terms of APY than Jared Crick’s. Dial’s production has nowhere near matched the production of Crick’s. For a defensive lineman, Dial has never quite shown the ability to get to the quarterback. In the past two seasons, Dial has recorded 2 and 2.5 sacks respectively. Thus far this season, Dial has not sacked the quarterback this season. Furthermore, he has no QB hurries and only 4% of his tackles on the season have occurred in the backfield.
Here are the current stats for the newly contracted rushers as tabulated by Sportingcharts.com. The chart is sorted from highest to lowest based on a production formula that takes into account some of the relevant stats shown in the table.
Rohan is a law student at Villanova Law School. He also writes for the Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Society Blog. For more insight, follow Rohan on Twitter, @rmohanty3 .
| Player | Team | APY | APY Rank | Def Snaps | % Def Snaps | Solo Tackle | Tot Tackle | TFL | TFL % | Sacks | Hurries | Stuffs | Prod. Rank |
| Olivier Vernon | Giants | $17,000,000 | 3 | 604 | 92% | 26 | 39 | 8 | 21% | 3 | 18 | 5 | 1 |
| Adrian Clayborn | Falcons | $4,250,000 | 13 | 454 | 63% | 19 | 20 | 8 | 40% | 5 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| Fletcher Cox | Eagles | $17,100,000 | 2 | 438 | 77% | 17 | 24 | 6 | 25% | 4 | 13 | 3 | 3 |
| Jason Pierre-Paul | Giants | $10,000,000 | 5 | 632 | 96% | 25 | 38 | 3 | 8% | 2 | 19 | 2 | 4 |
| Derek Wolfe | Broncos | $9,175,000 | 7 | 448 | 63% | 21 | 30 | 3 | 10% | 5 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| Andre Branch | Dolphins | $2,750,000 | 19 | 377 | 59% | 12 | 23 | 2 | 9% | 4 | 12 | 2 | 6 |
| Dwight Freeney | Falcons | $2,000,000 | 25 | 237 | 33% | 6 | 9 | 4 | 44% | 3 | 12 | 0 | 7 |
| Muhammad Wilkerson | Jets | $17,200,000 | 1 | 529 | 82% | 22 | 33 | 7 | 21% | 3 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Vinny Curry | Eagles | $9,250,000 | 6 | 250 | 44% | 8 | 12 | 3 | 25% | 1 | 14 | 2 | 9 |
| Charles Johnson | Panthers | $3,000,000 | 17 | 392 | 66% | 12 | 20 | 0 | 0% | 2 | 14 | 0 | 10 |
| Malik Jackson | Jaguars | $14,250,000 | 4 | 394 | 64% | 15 | 17 | 4 | 24% | 2 | 10 | 2 | 11 |
| Chris Long | Patriots | $2,375,000 | 24 | 429 | 69% | 13 | 21 | 4 | 19% | 1 | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| Mario Williams | Dolphins | $8,500,000 | 8 | 354 | 56% | 9 | 12 | 4 | 33% | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| Jared Crick | Broncos | $2,000,000 | 25 | 582 | 82% | 15 | 28 | 4 | 14% | 2 | 5 | 1 | 14 |
| William Hayes | Rams | $5,833,333 | 10 | 245 | 40% | 16 | 21 | 4 | 19% | 2 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
| Jason Jones | Dolphins | $1,535,000 | 29 | 339 | 53% | 13 | 21 | 2 | 10% | 3 | 5 | 0 | 16 |
| Rob Ninkovich | Patriots | $2,500,000 | 22 | 234 | 37% | 8 | 17 | 1 | 6% | 1 | 6 | 0 | 17 |
| Eugene Sims | Rams | $3,333,333 | 16 | 246 | 40% | 11 | 15 | 4 | 27% | 2 | 0 | 3 | 18 |
| Robert Ayers Jr. | Buccaneers | $6,500,000 | 9 | 240 | 39% | 10 | 13 | 2 | 15% | 3 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| Benson Mayowa | Cowboys | $2,750,000 | 19 | 202 | 35% | 4 | 8 | 3 | 38% | 2 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Derrick Shelby | Falcons | $4,500,000 | 12 | 244 | 34% | 6 | 8 | 2 | 25% | 0 | 5 | 2 | 21 |
| Cedric Thornton | Cowboys | $4,250,000 | 13 | 193 | 34% | 7 | 15 | 3 | 20% | 2 | 0 | 2 | 22 |
| Tyrunn Walker | Lions | $1,600,000 | 28 | 229 | 39% | 10 | 18 | 3 | 17% | 0 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
| Stephen Paea | Browns | $1,900,000 | 27 | 220 | 31% | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 |
| Ziggy Hood | Redskins | $935,000 | 33 | 391 | 65% | 7 | 15 | 1 | 7% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Mitch Unrein | Bears | $1,130,000 | 31 | 288 | 46% | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 |
| Jarvis Jenkins | Jets | $3,000,000 | 17 | 120 | 19% | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
| Quinton Dial | 49ers | $4,000,667 | 15 | 360 | 53% | 19 | 28 | 1 | 4% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 |
| Tank Carradine | 49ers | $2,650,000 | 21 | 168 | 25% | 7 | 12 | 1 | 8% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Ricardo Mathews | Steelers | $760,000 | 35 | 130 | 22% | 2 | 5 | 1 | 20% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Billy Winn | Broncos | $760,000 | 35 | 209 | 30% | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
| Tony Jerod-Eddie | 49ers | $1,000,000 | 32 | 66 | 10% | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Justin Trattou | Vikings | $810,000 | 34 | 5 | 1% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Wallace Gilberry | Lions | $1,250,000 | 30 | 0 | 0% | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
| Kendall Reyes | Redskins | $2,500,000 | 22 | 0 | 0% | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
| Aldon Smith | Raiders | $5,750,000 | 11 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |