14 contracts of $100m or more have been handed out, yet not one player has reached that total.
After Joe Flacco was awarded the biggest contract in league history, he became the 14th member of the $100m contract club, and immediately goes to the top, but how much of that will he earn of it?
Reasrch on Reddit.com suggests that players who were awarded the mammoth contract, especially in the early years, barely saw any of it at all.
The table below, compiled on reddit.com, shows the value of each $100m+ contract, and how much they earned in guaranteed and total money. The results are simply staggering.
| Player | Year | Total | Guaranteed | Length | Per year | Actual Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Flacco | 2013 | $120.6 million | ?? | 6 years | $20.1m | N/A |
| Drew Brees | 2012 | $100 million | $60 million |
5 | $20m | $40m |
| Calvin Johnson | 2012 | $132 million |
$37.25 million | 8 | $16.5 m | $17.25m |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 2011 | $120m | $45m |
8 | $15m | $40.25m |
| Michael Vick | 2011 | $100 million |
$35.5 million | 6 | $16.67m | $32.5m |
| Eli Manning | 2009 | $106.9 million |
$35 million | 7 | $15.3m | $58.75 |
| Albert Haynesworth | 2009 | $100m | $41m | 7 | $14.3m | $32m |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 2008 | $102million | $33.2m | 8 | $12.75m | $72.7m |
| Carson Palmer | 2005 | $118.75 million |
$27m | 9 | $12.25m | $74.75m |
| Michael Vick | 2004 | $130m | $37m |
10 | $13m | $39m |
| Daunte Culpepper | 2003 | $102m | $16m | 10 |
$10.2m | ?? |
| Donovan McNabb | 2002 | $115m | $20.5m | 12 |
$9.58m | $62m |
| Brett Favre | 2001 | $101.5m | $22m | 10 |
$10.5m | $62.5m |
| Drew Bledsoe | 2001 | $103m | $24m | 10 | $10.3 | $15m |
Despite the contracts that the media like to emphasize on, it is obvious that it doesn’t always come to that. While the big number is obviously the total earnings, that figure includes bonuses and clauses that the player may not reach, such as making the playoffs or throwing a certain amount fo touchdowns.
The most important figure is the guaranteed money. This figure represents how much that player will be paid, regardless of the situation. That money is the players and no one else can touch it. That is the figure that really matters intrinsically. Franchises will set that figure at how much they value a player to the team, and the higher that is against the contract, the more they value the player.
Drew Brees is the perfect example. He is guaranteed to earn $60m of the $100m contract he has been given, and it is quite likely the bonuses and clauses will be very easy to meet too.
The research shows that while being given a $100m contract is amazing, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll earn it all.
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