Patrick Mahomes might actually have the most team-friendly contract in the NFL.
Yes, Mahomes' contract with the Kansas City Chiefs includes a whopping $450 million in total potential compensation. But most of that money comes in the form of "tomorrow bucks" to be paid out starting in 2023, when NFL revenues and cap figures will be much higher. Mahomes' cap number for 2021 is just $7.4 million, about the same amount as Taysom Hill, Case Keenum and Nick Foles will cost the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears this year, respectively. The best player in the NFL is, at least temporarily, an absolute bargain.
That said, it's a bit of a stretch to claim that a half-billion dollar investment is among the best contracts in the NFL, so let's set Mahomes aside. The following lineup is built from the league's shrewdest deals -- the ones that provide the most bang and the least potential downside for the buck. Many are contracts a player signed before he achieved stardom. A few are one-year prove-it deals with veterans who are likely to prove a whole lot in 2021. Some simply pass the cost-benefit analysis eyeball test: right player, right position and better-than-right price. None of them are rookie contracts, however. That would just be a boring list of up-and-coming superstars waiting to get paid.
And finally, these are the NFL's best contracts from the teams' perspective. So yes, this is mostly a list of underpaid players. Many of the players who signed these deals may not love them as much as their general managers do. But that's the business. Here's a full roster of NFL players currently playing on value deals -- the best team you can put together without breaking the bank -- from Football Outsiders.
Quarterback: Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Contract: Two years, $50 million fully guaranteed, expires after 2022 season
Technically, Brady's contract runs through 2025 because of void years and other funny-money accounting. In reality, the Bucs are leasing Brady's services in his golden years at a reasonable $25 million per year, with minimal long-term strings attached.
He has already repaid them with a boat parade, not to mention a small fortune in season-ticket and jersey sales. Brady's relatively modest compensation also allowed the Bucs to keep their Super Bowl nucleus intact for a victory lap. That makes the Buccaneers the team to beat in the NFC, with a league-high Football Outsiders mean projection of 11.1 wins.
Sometimes, NFL caponomics are simple: If you can sign a still-spry living legend below market value, write the check and don't worry about the date of birth on his driver's license.
Running back: Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
Contract: Three years, $36.6 million, $20 million guaranteed, expires after 2024 season
The NFL's latest major contract extension for a running back is also among the league's most team-friendly deals. The Browns wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Chubb is a focal point of their offense, and having finished second in the NFL in Football Outsiders DVOA in 2020, he is also one of the league's best rushers.
But the analytics-minded Browns brain trust knows that running backs rarely live up to their second contracts. So they somehow convinced Chubb to sign for little more than half the total money that peers like Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey are scheduled to earn, structuring the deal so even the medium-sized cap hits won't come until 2023 and 2024.
Chubb will share the workload in Cleveland with Kareem Hunt, so he should have one or two great years left before his odometer rolls over to "Todd Gurley." Those years will be worth every dime the Browns are paying him. Chubb's extension may set the standard for future lead running back contracts, whether the running backs like it or not.
Running back: Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
Contract: Four years, $24.5 million, $5.75 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
Offering a second contract to a veteran running back is rarely a good idea. But if a team decides to do it, Ekeler's contract provides a smart template.
The deal must be relatively small, with little guaranteed money and minimal cap charges on the back end. The Chargers could release the 26-year-old Ekeler after this season and eat just a $3 million cap hit. Such a contract should also go to an all-purpose back like Ekeler who makes a major contribution in the passing game (146 receptions over the past two years), minimizing the risk that the team will be overpaying a worn-down grinder down the road.
Ekeler may be the only truly underpaid veteran running back in the NFL, making his contract the biggest no-brainer on this list.
Wide receiver: Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals
Contract: Four years, $43 million, $9 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
Boyd has caught 245 passes since 2018, the 12th-highest total in the NFL during that span. He's one of the league's most consistent, reliable receivers, but he has always been a nominal No. 2 guy -- first behind A.J. Green, now behind rookie Ja'Marr Chase. Boyd accepted No. 2 receiver money when he signed his current deal in 2019, and the Bengals have reaped the rewards ever since.
Boyd's cap numbers will stay in the manageable $10 million range for the next two seasons, freeing money to let the Bengals address needs elsewhere while also giving Joe Burrow a Boyd-Chase-Tee Higgins receiving corps that promises to be both excellent and affordable.
Wide receiver: Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
Contract: Four years, $69 million, $47 million guaranteed, expires after 2025 season
Like Boyd, Lockett has a reputation as a No. 2 receiver; he led the Seahawks in receiving in 2019 and 2020 but played second fiddle to Doug Baldwin early in his career and now shares targets with bigger/faster/flashier teammate DK Metcalf. But the analytics love Lockett. He led the NFL in Football Outsiders' DVOA metric in 2018 and finished sixth in 2019 before dropping to (a still solid) 21st last year.
The less-than-extravagant $69 million extension Lockett signed in April may reflect his off year in 2020 or his reputation as a second-tier star. Either way, the Seahawks signed Lockett before he hit the free-agent market, convinced him to push his big-cap years back to 2023 or 2024 and may even have priced in a bit of a hometown discount.
Tight end: Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders
Contract: Four years, $29.8 million, $3.2 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
When Waller signed this extension with the Raiders in October 2019, he was a 27-year-old career backup earning roughly the veterans minimum who was just a few weeks into a breakthrough season. In other words, the Raiders lowballed Waller when they had the chance and have been rewarded with two 1,000-yard seasons (and first- and third-place rankings among tight ends in Football Outsiders DYAR) at journeyman prices.
Waller's cap figures remain in the $6 million range for the next three years, and the Raiders could cut Waller after this season without incurring a dime in dead cap space. Of course, they won't be cutting Waller anytime soon. They're far more likely to wind up back at the negotiating table in an effort to lock him down at less than market value a little longer.
Offensive tackle: Tyron Smith, Dallas Cowboys
Contract: Eight years, $97.6 million, expires after 2024 season
Smith's deal belongs in the Team-friendly Contract Hall of Fame. Cowboys owner-operator Jerry Jones designed this financial perpetual motion machine way back in 2014 and immediately began tinkering with it, using Smith's contract like a low-interest home equity loan whenever he needed to clear cap space.
The details and restructurings of this contract would baffle an economics professor, but the bottom line is simple: Smith has been playing for less than market value for half a decade, and his 2021 cap number is just $7.35 million, a pittance to pay for (when healthy) an All-Pro caliber left tackle.
It's worth noting that Smith's cap figure blossoms to $17.8 million next year, but Jones' accountants will merely wave magic wands and tack more years to the end of the deal.
Offensive tackle: Kolton Miller, Las Vegas Raiders
Contract: Five years, $54 million, $25 million guaranteed, expires after 2025 season
The Raiders secured Miller when he still had two years left on his rookie contract. It was a risky move -- Miller struggled as a rookie and was inconsistent in 2019 -- but if Miller keeps playing the way he did in 2020, the Raiders will be getting premium pass protection at bargain prices.
Guard: Kevin Zeitler, Baltimore Ravens
Contract: Three years, $22.5 million, $16 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
Few teams are desperately looking for Quenton Nelson or Zack Martin at guard. Most simply want guards who are durable, dependable and affordable, allowing them to spend bigger bucks elsewhere. Zeitler checks all of those boxes.
He has gotten the job done for the Bengals, Browns and Giants over the past nine seasons, rarely missing a game or making a critical mistake. He'll help protect Lamar Jackson while carrying just a $4.05 million cap number this season.
Guard: Shaq Mason, New England Patriots
Contract: Five years, $45 million, $23.5 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
The Patriots signed Mason to this extension in August 2018, one full year before he could hit the free-agent market. It looked like a whopper at the time, especially for a former fourth-round pick at the least glamorous (and perhaps least impactful) position on the field. But top guards now make upward of $14 million per year, while Mason will cost the Patriots roughly $10 million per year over the next two seasons. And he is one of the best in the business.
To repeat the chorus, it pays to get young core veterans on long contracts before they get a chance to test the market.
Center: David Andrews, New England Patriots
Contract: Four years, $19 million, $6.5 million guaranteed, expires after 2024 season
Andrews missed the 2019 season with blood clots in his lungs and part of 2020 with a thumb injury. Rather than test a free-agent market likely to be wary of his health history, Andrews re-signed with the Patriots for what sure looks like a hometown discount.
Andrews and Mason have helped the Patriots' offensive line rank in the top 10 in Football Outsiders' adjusted line yards metric every year since they entered the NFL together in 2015. Their affordable contracts will allow them to provide stability for years to come.
Defensive tackle: Michael Brockers, Detroit Lions
Contract: Three years, $24 million, $11 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
Lions coach Dan Campbell claims that Brockers is worthy to wield the hammer of Thor. That may be true, but rugged run-stuffing linemen earn far less than sack specialists, and the cap-crunched Rams couldn't afford to keep their Avengers together on defense. So Brockers will cost Campbell's Lions just $3.05 million in cap space this season on a contract backloaded with money he may never see.
Worse, Brockers doesn't even get to play for a likely contender in exchange for his relatively low salary. It's almost as if he let his mischievous brother Loki handle the negotiations.
Defensive tackle: Poona Ford, Seattle Seahawks
Contract: Two years, $12.35 million, $7.5 million guaranteed, expires after 2022 season
Ford is a Seahawks fan favorite, but he is also a wide-bodied run-plugger and a former undrafted rookie -- two attributes that limit his earning potential. His two-year contract looks huge compared to the league-minimum salaries he earned in his first three seasons, but it's still chump change by NFL starter standards.
Edge rusher: Carl Lawson, New York Jets
Contract: Three years, $45 million, $30 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
Don't let Lawson's low sack totals fool you. He's a disruptive young pass-rusher whose numbers were nerfed by a bad Bengals defense. Lawson's deal with the Jets isn't small, but it's smaller than it would have been if he posted gaudier sack totals.
The Jets signed a rising star for the price of a midtier veteran. Don't be surprised if Robert Saleh, architect of the San Francisco 49ers' pass rush and new Jets head coach, turns Lawson into one of the league's best bargains.
Edge rusher: Haason Reddick, Carolina Panthers
Contract: One year, $6 million fully guaranteed
Sacks are expensive. So if you get a chance to pick up a dozen of them for $6 million, you leap at the opportunity.
Free-agent suitors must have been skeptical of Reddick's late-2020 sack surge -- 7.5 of his 12.5 sacks came in December, and five of them in one game against the Giants -- so Reddick signed a prove-it deal to play for Matt Rhule, one of his former college coaches. His cap-friendly deal even includes four voidable years to minimize Reddick's 2021 cap hit.
Football Outsiders' metrics suggest that there's more to Reddick's game than just terrorizing the poor Giants. His 28 defeats (essentially the sum of sacks, tackles for a loss and third-/fourth-down stops) last season ranked second only to T.J. Watt among edge rushers. If Reddick builds on his late-2020 success, Rhule will likely have the inside track toward signing him to a bigger contract. If not, the Panthers can move on without financial repercussions.
Linebacker: Eric Kendricks, Minnesota Vikings
Contract: Five years, $50 million, $22.9 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
When the Vikings signed Kendricks to this five-year extension way back in 2018, they backloaded it with base salaries in the final years that appeared hefty at the time, including $8.15 million in 2021 and $9.15 million over the next two years. The Vikings were both trying to save short-term cap space and counting upon cap increases that would make Kendricks' figures more manageable.
And they could not have planned it any better. Kendricks now provides Pro Bowl-caliber play for much less money than peers such as Fred Warner, Bobby Wagner and Zach Cunningham will make on the deals they signed more recently. It's further proof that it pays for a team to sign an up-and-coming player before he becomes a big name or hits the free-agent market.
Linebacker: Demario Davis, New Orleans Saints
Contract: Three years, $27 million, $18.35 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
Several defenders on this all-value lineup are around 30 years old and approaching the downsides of their careers but are still playing at a high level. Their contracts are structured to reflect that, with good-not-great money stuffed into a few years so the team can pay the veteran while he's still effective instead of coping with a cap hit when he's 37 years old.
Davis remains one of the league's best linebackers and a veteran leader on a Saints team that still believes it's a Super Bowl contender, despite Drew Brees' retirement. He is worth every dime he makes today, and his contract won't saddle the Saints with very much dead money tomorrow.
Safety: Tashaun Gipson Sr., Chicago Bears
Contract: One year, $1.835 million, $1.325 million guaranteed
Gipson is a versatile veteran safety who can play deep or in the box, takes care of his coverage assignments and rarely misses a start.
So why is he earning less than a veteran punter? The 31-year-old Gipson was caught in the 2021 cap crunch at a position where teams don't pay a premium for dependability. So the Bears retained his services on a tiny contract that they still spread out over multiple void years to save a few salary-cap nickels.
Gipson is a valuable starter on a great defense. He deserves to make a little more dough, and if he has another strong year just as the salary cap is about to blast into orbit, maybe he will.
Safety: Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, Buffalo Bills
Poyer's contract: Two years, $19.5 million fully guaranteed, expires after 2022 season
Hyde's contract: Two years, $19.5 million, $9.6 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
We're going "heavy nickel" on our cap-friendly defense with a 4-2-5 alignment and three safeties. We're also showcasing how the Bills are keeping one of the NFL's best secondaries intact.
Both Hyde and Poyer signed short extensions before their last contracts expired, allowing the Bills to trade new money for the chance to keep both defenders off the free-agent market. The deals are smaller than what Budda Baker/Landon Collins-level safeties now sign for, and they come without bells and whistles. For instance, there are no voidable years or salary-cap surprises tacked onto the back end.
Poyer and Hyde will be in their early 30s when their deals expire. Maybe the Bills will replace them with younger players. Maybe both will earn another extension before that. And perhaps everyone will be wearing Super Bowl rings when it comes time to worry about such matters.
Cornerback: Xavier Rhodes, Indianapolis Colts
Contract: One year, $4.77 million, $3.75 million guaranteed
When Rhodes is on, he's one of the best cover corners in the NFL. When he's off, he struggles, to say the least. In 2019, he allowed an 82.4% completion rate as the nearest defender, per NFL Next Gen Stats. It was by far the worst in the NFL among defensive backs with at least 60 targets.
But Rhodes is coming off an "on" year, as he finished ninth in the NFL in 2020 with a 60% success rate against the receivers he covered, per Football Outsiders metrics. And the small prove-it deal he accepted from the Colts in March should be all the incentive he needs to produce another big year.
Rhodes will cash in next season if he plays like he did in 2016, 2017 or 2020. Until then, he's one of the league's best low-risk, high-upside investments.
Cornerback: Chidobe Awuzie, Cincinnati Bengals
Contract: Three years, $21.7 million, $7.5 million guaranteed, expires after 2023 season
Awuzie looked like a rising star for the Cowboys before enduring an ugly, injury-marred 2020 season. Maybe he's not as good as he looked in his first three seasons -- or maybe he just got dragged down by the rest of the bumbling Cowboys defense last year. The Bengals scooped Awuzie up at a discount rate in free agency to find out.
Targeting young free agents coming off bad seasons in an offseason when few teams had money to spend is a sound strategy. Awuzie, like many of the veterans on this list (Lockett, Brockers, Andrews, Lawson, etc.), hit the free-agent market at the worst possible time. The Bengals are one of many teams that could reap the benefits for years to come.