NFL All-Overpaid Team 2026: Deshaun Watson, Jeremiyah Love headline recognizable roster

In the NFL, respect is earned, but players truly feel the love when the compensation starts flowing. The average NFL career length is 3.5 years, but those who can make it further can potentially procure generational wealth.

However, things can sometimes go south in the NFL after guys are paid, whether due to injury, age, or some other unforeseen circumstance. That type of development can lead to a player being overpaid for expected production that isn’t being realized on the field. 

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the NFL’s most overpaid players at every offensive and defensive position entering the 2026 season. 

Quarterback: Deshaun Watson

Contract: Five years, $230 million fully guaranteed 

Deshaun Watson’s five-year, $230 million contract, fully guaranteed, is the worst contract in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns inked him to that deal after trading a 2022 first-round pick, 2023 and 2024 first-round picks, a 2022 fourth-round pick, a third-round pick in 2023 and a fourth-round pick in 2024 in exchange for the three-time Houston Texans Pro Bowler and a 2024 sixth-round pick. 

The high-level play in Houston that enticed Cleveland to make that deal occurred before his off-field legal issues surfaced, resulting in a league-issued suspension that kept him out for the entire 2021 season and the first 11 games of 2022. When he’s played in his limited 19-start tenure as the Browns’ starting quarterback, he’s been one of the NFL’s worst, ranking in the bottom five in the NFL in multiple efficiency metrics among the 50 quarterbacks who have thrown 500-plus passes since 2022. 

Deshaun Watson ranks with Browns, among 50 QBs with 500-plus pass attempts since 2022		NFL rank
Expected points added (EPA) per dropback	-0.19	49th*
Yards per dropback	4.9	49th
Pass yards per start	177.1	47th

* Only Zach Wilson ranks worse than Watson among 50 QBs with 500-plus passes since 2022

Cleveland has paid him an astounding $9.6 million per start over the length of his deal as it enters its last year in 2026: 19 starts for $183 million in cash earned. 

Deshaun Watson’s Browns career	Games	Pass yards	TD-INT	Passer rating
2022	6	1,102	7-5	79.1
2023	6	1,115	7-4	84.3
2024	7	1,148	5-3	79.0

* Missed the entire 2025 season with a torn Achilles

There may never be an NFL contract this depressing for generations to come. 

Running back: Jeremiyah Love

Contract: Four years, $53.02 million fully guaranteed 

The Arizona Cardinals set up 2026 third overall pick running back Jeremiyah Love to end up on a list like this simply by selecting a running back with the third overall pick. First-round pick contracts are assigned by draft slot, which means Love is locked into $53.02 million fully guaranteed over the life of his four-year rookie deal. While his collegiate accomplishments of leading college football in rushing touchdowns (35) and scrimmage touchdowns (40) across his final two seasons at Notre Dame are great, that’s not enough to earn more guaranteed money than some of the NFL’s best.

Love now earns more guaranteed money on his rookie contract than every other running back in the NFL, including 2025 NFL scrimmage yards leader Bijan Robinson ($51.56 million of his three-year, $66.75 million deal) and three-time Pro Bowler Jahmyr Gibbs ($51.47 million of his three-year, $67.5 million deal). Those two plus three-time Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor ($39.02 million of his two-year, $44 million deal) reset the running back market from an average per year salary perspective this offseason, but Love still possesses more guaranteed money than all three of them. He needs to be a generational running back in order to live up to his lofty draft status and the money that comes with it. 

Most guaranteed money, current RB contracts	Guaranteed Money
Jeremiyah Love (ARI)	$53.02 million
Bijan Robinson (ATL)	$51.56 millon
Jahmyr Gibbs (DET)	$51.47 million
Jonathan Taylor (IND)	$39.02 million
Saquon Barkley (PHI)	$36 million

Wide receiver: Chris Godwin 

Contract: Three years, $66 million with $44 million guaranteed

Chris Godwin’s three-year, $66 million extension is aging like spoiled milk. He has missed a combined 18 games over the last two seasons, eight of which came in 2025, when he registered career lows in catches (33) and receiving yards (360) while producing the second-fewest receiving touchdowns of his career (two). He is set to make a whopping $22 million in guaranteed salary this season and barring a miraculous turnaround in his age-30 season, Godwin won’t be playing out the final year of his deal in 2027 when Tampa Bay can save $13.7 million by releasing him. 

Tight end: Cade Otton 

Contract: Three years, $30 million with $20 million guaranteed

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton’s extension kicks in this season, but the Buccaneers are still awaiting a breakout from the 27-year-old. With Mike Evans missing a career-high nine games last season because of various injuries, Otton did not step up as the next big-bodied target for quarterback Baker Mayfield, with just 572 yards receiving and a career-low 1 receiving touchdown on 59 catches. His guaranteed money protects him from being a cap casualty in 2026, but Otton will need to have a big year in the coming season.

Offensive tackle: Dan Moore Jr. 

Contract: Four years, $82 million with $50 million guaranteed  

The Tennessee Titans reeled in Dan Moore Jr. to be 2025 first overall pick quarterback Cam Ward’s blindside protector in free agency a year ago, and he was an absolute disaster. Moore allowed eight sacks in 2025, tied for the seventh-most in the NFL, while surrendering 46 quarterback pressures, the second most in the NFL and just one behind Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele’s league-leading 47. Out of the 84 offensive tackles graded by Pro Football Focus in 2025, Moore’s 61.9 offensive grade ranked 57th. Only three more years to go. 

Interior offensive linemen: Aaron Banks 

Contract: Four years, $77 million with $27 fully million guaranteed    

Aaron Banks’ sack rate wasn’t terrible, just three allowed in 312 pass-blocking snaps, but he did surrender 23 quarterback pressures in 2025. Pro Football Focus handed Banks a 56.5 offensive grade, which ranked 55th out of the 79 qualified offensive guards they graded. However, that’s not quite the production you’d like to see out of the NFL’s ninth-highest-paid guard in terms of average per year salary at $19.25 million. Banks is also currently dealing with knee tendinitis that flares up whenever he performs football movements, so he’s been sidelined during training camp with no return date in sight. General manager Brian Gutekunst’s recent, aggressive approach to free agency is a breath of fresh air for long-time Packers fans, but this deal may have been a whiff. 

Defensive tackle: Alim McNeil 

Contract: Four years, $97 million with $28 million fully guaranteed      

Alim McNeil showed enough promise early on in his career in order to earn a massive four-year, $97 million contract with $28 million fully guaranteed and $55 million guaranteed for injury. However, he’s been unable to stay on the field of late, a common theme for the Lions’ defense these days, missing a combined 14 games since 2023. In 2025, his 52.5 defensive grade ranked 89th out of 127 interior defensive linemen grades by Pro Football Focus. McNeil’s career-high 5.0 sacks came back in 2023, and he’s accumulated just 4.5 across the last two seasons. Detroit needs much more out of McNeil with three years remaining on this albatross.  

Edge rusher: Jonathan Greenard

Contract: Four years, $98 million with $50 million in new guarantees

Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Greenard’s 2025 season with the Minnesota Vikings ended with shoulder surgery, but the Philadelphia Eagles decided he was still worth trading a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 third-round to Minnesota in exchange for Greenard and a 2026 seventh-round pick. 

The Eagles promptly extended him on a four-year, $98 million deal that amounts to $60 million in new money over two years. That $30 million average per salary is tied for the ninth-highest among edge rushers, along with recently departed Eagles edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and his four-year, $120 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. However, Greenard has yet to suit up in training camp with his new team because he landed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list with a pectoral strain sustained during weightlifting. Given how closely the pectoral and shoulder muscles are connected in the human body, that raises some cause for concern. Especially when factoring in how his performance dipped in 2025 following consecutive seasons with 12-plus sacks in 2023 and 2024. 

Greenard racked up a career-high 12.5 sacks to go along with 48 quarterback pressures on a 12.8% quarterback pressure rate in his last season as a Houston Texan in 2023. In his first season as a Viking in 2024, he produced a career-high 80 quarterback pressures in addition to 12.0 sacks on a 15.9% quarterback pressure. rate. His sack totals fell off a cliff over 12 games last season, as he generated just 3.0 sacks and 47 quarterback pressures at a career-high 18.1% pressure rate. 

Philadelphia is banking on a return to health and that 2025 quarterback pressure rate as signs of things to come for the 29-year-old, but the wait is still on to see him at Eagles training camp. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio told reporters he’ll miss “a good bit of camp.”  It’s also uncertain if he’ll even be ready for Week 1.

Linebacker: Jamien Sherwood

Contract: Three years, $45 million with $30 million guaranteed

Just last offseason, the New York Jets extended Sherwood on a deal that gives him a $15 million average per year salary. That deal is tied with Devin Lloyd of the Carolina Panthers and Nick Bolton of the Kansas City Chiefs for the seventh-highest APY at the linebacker position. He struggled to make much of an impact in 2025, registering a 65.7 defensive grade, which ranked 36th among 88 linebackers graded by Pro Football Focus.

The Jets seemingly acknowledged this deal as a mistake after signing Demario Davis away from the New Orleans Saints on a two-year, $22 million contract this offseason. There’s still time for Sherwood to turn things around on this deal, but it needs to happen this season. 

Cornerback: Marlon Humphrey

Contract: Five years, $97.5 million with $39.957 million guaranteed  

Marlon Humphrey is now on the wrong side of 30, fresh off a struggle-filled 2025 season. He registered a 50.1 PFF defensive grade, which ranked 103rd out of 112 qualified cornerbacks in 2025. In Stathead’s defensive passer rating metric, Humphrey’s 84.6 ranked 42nd among 138 players with at least 50 passes thrown their way last season. That’s simply not good enough when having the 10th-highest average per year salary ($19.5 million) at the cornerback position. 

Safety: Kerby Joseph

Contract: Four years, $85 million with $36.1 million guaranteed    

Kerby Joseph’s league-leading nine interceptions in 2024 earned him his current contract, which makes him the third-highest-paid safety in the NFL, but that deal is in danger of aging poorly in a hurry. Joseph missed the final 11 games of the 2025 season with what the Detroit Free Press calls “a degenerative condition in his knee.” The Free Press also declared that Joseph is unlikely to be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 season because of the injury. 

If he can’t figure out how to heal his knee injury, this contract could sink Detroit’s contention hopes.