Best & Worst
Worst Contracts in the NFL: AFC West
Denver Broncos- Menelik Watson, 3 years $18.4M, $5.5M guaranteed
Worst Contracts in the NFL: AFC South
Houston Texans- Jeff Allen, 4 years $28M, $12M guaranteed
Worst Contracts in the NFL: AFC North
Baltimore Ravens- Joe Flacco, 3 years $66.4M, $44M guaranteed
This one is really just a continuation on a previous disastrous contract that occurred because Flacco backed the Ravens into a corner following a Super Bowl win and Baltimore felt they had no options. The bonus structure on this contract is far and away the worst in the NFL. Since 2013 the Ravens have paid Flacco signing bonuses of $29 million, $15 million, $7 million and the latest one- a whopping $40 million off an injury. The cost of cutting or trading Flacco this year would have been $47.3 million because of all the bonus money. Next year its $28.75 million and the year after that it’s $16 million. Flacco has a total of one 4,000+ yard passing season and has never posted more than 27 touchdowns in a 9 year career. Since winning the Super Bowl and receiving the massive contracts the Ravens have made the playoffs just once in 4 years and are struggling with their salary cap. Flacco’s contract illustrates just about everything that is wrong with the way teams handle their quarterback position. There are few contracts in the league that were more mortgaged than Tony Romo’s but this one met that challenge and topped it. If Flacco’s body breaks down it will get the treated the same way as the team struggles to come out from under it. Continue reading Worst Contracts in the NFL: AFC North »
The Best and Worst Value Defenses in 2016
Over the last two weeks we looked at the best value teams in the NFL as well as the best value offenses and this week we will look at the best and worst values defenses. The metric’s we’ll use here to compare the team’s performance to spending will be Football Outsiders Weighted DVOA for defense and my defensive efficiency metric, which is basically the percentage a team scores above or below their specific opponent’s adjusted average points allowed. Punters will be included as part of the defensive spending. The following plot shows the teams spending on offense vs their performance with the size of the bubble indicating the ratio of money spent on offense vs defense. Though normally negative means a better defense I flipped the signs to make it easier to view, so in this case a higher % also means a better defense. Continue reading The Best and Worst Value Defenses in 2016 »
New Contract Tracker: Quarterbacks and Interior DL
Earlier this week, we the people decided who we want to lead us into the near future from the Presidential Palace. Regardless of whether we as individuals supported the eventual winner or not, ultimately it was decided that a radical change was necessary at the top.
After years of what people felt was a whole lot of wheel-spinning and not enough tangible, positive end results, it was clear that the fear of “more of the same” shook many to their core and was the impetus for taking a different path.
I wonder if those in charge of choosing a leader to guide the LA Rams feel empowered to similarly shake things up in the land of 7-9.
Continue reading New Contract Tracker: Quarterbacks and Interior DL »
Most and Least Valuable Quarterbacks: Week 2
During the offseason I did some work on valuations of a few positions and thought it might be worthwhile to look at a few of them on a weekly basis measure the value that a team is getting from their players. A player’s statistical performance is converted into a salary to attempt to put the numbers in better context. This week we’ll look at quarterbacks and see who were the best and worst players as well as those providing the most and least value this week. Continue reading Most and Least Valuable Quarterbacks: Week 2 »