The speedster whom Los Angeles traded for in 2018 certainly helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl last year. It’s debatable whether or not he lived up to his contract, although there are a lot of mouths to feed in the L.A. offense.
After securing Cooks from the Patriots, they offered him a five-year, $81 million extension, $27.5 million of which will be paid this season. Cooks is the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL this season as a result.
Cousins did little to live up to his unprecedented three-year, $84 million fully guaranteed contract with the Vikings last offseason. After going 13-3 and reaching the 2017 NFC title game, Minnesota had eyes on taking the next step and making the Super Bowl last year.
Instead, Cousins lead the team to a disappointing 8-8 record and they missed the playoffs despite his gaudy stats. True, it wasn’t his entire fault as his offensive line was horrible and the defense took a step back. However, the three-year price tag of $28 million per is a tough pill to swallow for the franchise right now. If he doesn’t deliver in 2019, that factor will multiply exponentially.
Flowers was an integral piece of the Pats’ Super Bowl run last season, and it came at the right time. He reunited with former New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia in Detroit with a massive free-agent deal in tow. Flowers is on the books for an incredible five years at $90 million, $28.9 million of which will go out this year.
Patriots players who left Bill Belichick’s tutelage haven’t always panned out when other teams paid them. Detroit is counting on Flowers to recreate his AFC East success. We’ll see if that’s feasible in the NFC North, where he’ll face some slightly different QBs than he did against the Jets, Bills, and Dolphins.
Foles was probably always going to get paid – one way or another – when he led the Eagles to a miraculous Super Bowl in the 2017 season when starting QB Carson Wentz tore his ACL. He took over once again at the end of the 2018 season, leading the Eagles to a playoff victory.
Foles bet on himself and hit free agency. Jacksonville was the only player and came calling, signing Foles to a four-year, $88 million contract that will pay him the ransom of $30.8 million this year.
We all knew Lawrence was about to get paid when Dallas franchise tagged him this offseason. His performance rushing the passer last year was simply too much to deny. Despite several big names to pay, the Cowboys had to lock up Lawrence.
They did with a five-year, $105 million deal including $48 million guaranteed. He’ll earn $31.1 million of that this year, making him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.
This Super Bowl-winning passer from the Seattle Seahawks made headlines by setting his own contract deadline for his team to get a deal done. He was also rumored to potentially have a contract that took into account salary cap increases. That didn’t ultimately happen, but the fact it was even talked about could be groundbreaking for future such deals in the NFL.
As for Wilson’s contract, he signed a four-year, $140 million deal featuring $70 million guaranteed, $35 million of which he’ll get this year. The Seahawks did what they had to do.
Ryan took the Falcon to the brink of winning the Super Bowl in early 2017. While they didn’t get there, Atlanta rewarded their leader with a ridiculous five-year, $150 million extension with $94.5 million in guaranteed money. The Falcons’ longtime QB hasn’t picked up the wins to perhaps justify a deal of such magnitude since.
However, he is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL and has a stocked arsenal of pass catchers at his disposal. Still, the pressure is on Ryan and Falcons coach Dan Quinn to recreate some of their 2016 magic, as Ryan will earn a jaw-dropping $44.75 million as the second highest-paid player in the NFL in 2019.
Roethlisberger was at the center of a hotbed of drama and controversy involving former Pittsburgh wideout Antonio Brown ever since the end of last season. It got so bad that ‘Big Ben’ even apologized for his public comments after the fact.
Ii was also a shame that he never reached a Super Bowl with Brown and also-departed running back Le’Veon Bell by his side. But the Steelers clearly still believe in the aging and oft-injured passer.
They handed him a two-year, $68 million extension with $37.5 million guaranteed after last season. He has still secured elite passing numbers. His new running mates are wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back James Conner, not a bad pair to start over with.
He’ll lead one of the NFL’s most storied franchises into the future, and for his efforts, he’ll be paid $45 million in 2019 as the highest-paid player in the NFL this season.