Happy NFL new year! The beginning of free agency is one of the most fun days on the NFL calendar, so who better to pee on everyone’s parade than me, the patron saint of pessimism.
Fans aren’t the only ones excited about free agency – general managers are, too. Some of them get a little too eager, though, and end up giving bonkers contracts to players that just aren’t worth the kind of money they end up making. So, with that said, let’s look at the worst contracts from Day One of free agency.
Editor note: These deals are only bad for the team perspective. Congrats to all these players for getting paid.
WR Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts
For starters, massive yawn that Pierce ends up just staying in Indianapolis. How boring. The deal itself, though, is far from a bore. The Colts gave Pierce the richest contract for a free agent wide receiver in NFL history at four years, $114 million for an average of $29 million per year.
Alec Pierce is good. The same way that salmon is good – but no one is paying $237 for a good piece of salmon. If you are, though, I have a lovely oceanfront property in Idaho that you may be interested in. To put the deal in better perspective, Pierce is now making more money per year than Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith, and Nico Collins – he’s just not that caliber of a player.
EDGE Jaelan Phillips, Carolina Panthers
Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson, T.J. Watt, Danielle Hunter, Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, Nick Bosa. Those are the seven edge rushers who make at least $30 million per year – Phillips is now the eighth. At the time of writing, Phillips has signed the most expensive contract of any free agent in this class at $120 million in total value.
Phillips had five sacks in 2025. So if we’re looking at the value, he practically got paid $6 million per sack. He’s never had double-digit sacks in a season, and his career high of 8.5 sacks came back in his rookie season in 2021. This is an outrageous overpay.
C Tyler Linderbaum, Las Vegas Raiders
Good player, horrible contract. The Raiders gave the former Ravens center a there-year, $81 million deal. His $27 million per year is the most for a center in NFL history, and a whopping $9 million more than the current second-highest paid center, Creed Humphrey, who is a better player than Linderbaum. Paying that much for a center is indefensible.
EDGE Odafe Oweh, Washington Commanders
Oweh is now the 11th-highest paid edge rusher in the NFL after he and the Commanders agreed to terms on a four-year, $100 million deal with $68 million in guarantees. Yes, Oweh had a strong second half of the season with the Chargers, totaling 7.5 sacks in 12 games with Los Angeles, this is still a very jump-the-gun signing in terms of the total money. He had 10 sacks in 2024, and the Ravens still traded him a month into the season last year. That says a lot about what they thought about him in terms of whether he could build on that production or not. We’ll see what he looks like in Dan Quinn’s defense – Dante Fowler had a great year on that team in 2024 – but I’m skeptical.
TE Isaiah Likely, New York Giants
Are we sure Isaiah Likely is even good? Genuine question. He’s certainly not bad, but the two most memorable plays of his career are a catch where he was out of bounds in Week 1 of the 2024 season and a fumble at the goal line this past Thanksgiving. Giving him over $13 million per season is banking a lot on an athletic upside we’ve been told about for years at this point, but the production has never been that of a top-tier tight end. He’s never had more than 42 catches in a season, nor has he topped 500 yards.
Sure, that can be chalked up to playing second fiddle to Mark Andrews but… the guy who put him behind Andrews is now the Giants’ head coach. This just all feels like a move that will flash in march, but will never live up to the hype on the field.
TE Charlie Kolar, Los Angeles Chargers
I’m just sick of the Chargers’ bit of not getting any pass-catchers worth anything, and instead just signing guys with the vision of running their offense like it’s 1957. Yes, Charlie Kolar can run block. Terrific – $8.1 million for a tight end who adds nothing to the passing game isn’t a good use of money by the Chargers.
For the love of all that is holy, their receivers are a train wreck, and they have done next to nothing over the last three years to address it. Their big move in free agency last year was bringing back Mike Williams, who retired 10 minutes later. This was always my push back on hiring Jim Harbaugh – his schtick is one that is stuck too far in the past.
