Quarterback is easily the most important position in the NFL, and particularly for the Ravens playoff chances. Some teams are fortunate enough to have an elite quarterback on a reasonably expensive long-term contract (Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes and Bills with Josh Allen). Some teams have been living the dream with an elite quarterback on a rookie contract (Bengals with Joe burrow and Chargers with Justin Herbert). Then, there are some teams who are desperate enough to overpay a quarterback even if his performance doesn’t dictate the huge contract.
Below is the list of the top-5 worst current QB contracts in the NFL.
To calculate the most overpaid quarterbacks currently in the NFL, I used overthecap.com to find the player’s career earnings through the 2022 season and their current contract average per year (APY). I also used Pro-Football-Reference.com to find the player’s total career touchdowns and their touchdown average in career starts. For each of the 14 QBs currently making $30M+ APY, I calculated their average earnings per career touchdown and estimated earnings per touchdown for the upcoming season. Below is the list of the top-5 worst current QB contracts in the NFL entering the 2023 season.
Ravens Might Regret Jackson's Contract
In order to keep star quarterback and former NFL MVP on their team long-term, the Baltimore Ravens gave Lamar Jackson the largest contract in NFL history in terms of APY. Jackson is certainly one of the most talented players in the NFL and deserved a large extension. However, as of late, his production is not up-to-par with the other top quarterbacks around the league, and a 5-year, $260 million extension could come back to bite the Ravens in the long haul.
- Jackson’s record-breaking APY of $52.0 million is $9 million more per year than Buffalo Bills’ QB Josh Allen and $7 million more per year than 2-time MVP and 2-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes.
- Over his first five career seasons (2018-2022), Jackson made $840,000 per career touchdown, which is already the third most among the current 14 highest paid quarterbacks. With his massive extension and new APY of $52.0 million, that rate is expected to nearly double in 2023.
- Jackson has missed five games each of the last two seasons after not missing a game from 2018 to 2020.
- Using Jackson’s average of 2.0 touchdowns per career start, he is estimated to earn $1.5 million per touchdown scored in the 2023 season. That is over $400,000 more per touchdown than Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are expected to receive this upcoming season.
Therefore, Lamar Jackson lands #3 on this list of the worst current QB contracts.
