Broncos' Ja'Wuan James Deal Named One of NFL's Worst by Over The Cap
Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap put together a list of the 25 worst contracts in the NFL and unfortunately, the Denver Broncos made an appearance.
That would be right tackle Ja'Wuan James, who checked in as the 10th-worst contract in the NFL per OTC. He was made one of the highest-paid right tackles in the NFL in 2019 when he signed a four-year, $51 million contract with $27 million in full guarantees.
We know the story from there: James played just 6% of the Broncos offensive snaps in 2019 and missed the rest of the time with injuries.
Prior to joining the Broncos, James missed nine games in 2015 and eight games in 2017 because of injuries. While he was a good offensive tackle, he wasn't an elite player and it was hard to justify his deal at the time he signed it, even if he didn't have an injury history.
This season, James opted out because of COVID-19 concerns. While it's hard to blame him for making that decision, especially after a family member of his had the virus, it means another year in which he didn't take the field.
At least the Broncos don't have to pay his salary in full this year — he got a small advance that comes out of his $10M base salary, which rolls over into 2021.
Still, the Broncos have yet to see a return on investment from the deal and, until they get such a return, it's not a contract that Broncos fans will be happy about.
As for other players on the list, there are multiple examples from other teams that serve as cautionary tales about how the Broncos should be careful with extensions — and for fans to think carefully before they demand somebody be extended.
Here are a few examples.
Running Backs: I always hate bringing up the dangers of overpaying running backs, because I do believe they tend to get the short end of the stick, thanks to the rookie pay scale. But the evidence is pretty strong that you don't want to give big money to running backs, especially when you are in a situation in which you don't have to do it.
Consider Melvin Gordon, who has a contract plenty of Broncos fans dislike. Why, these Broncos fans say, would you give $13.5M fully guaranteed over two seasons to a running back who has only played a full 16-game season just once in his five years in the NFL?
Yet some of these fans insist that Phillip Lindsay should get paid big money. But this season, injuries have sidelined Lindsay in two games and caused him to exit early in a couple of others.
Of course, it remains to be seen what happens in 2022, but history isn't on the side of Lindsay any more than it was on the side of Gordon.
Just look at the list of worst contracts Fitzgerald put together. The Panthers extended Christian McCaffrey before they absolutely had to after he threatened a holdout. The Cowboys eventually caved in to Ezekiel Elliott when he held out for an extension. And the Cardinals paid David Johnson a lot of money after just two seasons.
The results haven't been pretty. McCaffrey has been injured and, per Fitzgerald, Panthers fans are already asking him about how to get out of the deal, Elliott is wearing down and fumbles have become an issue, and Johnson missed 15 games in 2017, then averaged no more than 3.7 yards per carry the next two seasons before being traded to the Texans.
While I was fine with giving Lindsay a modest increase for his play in the first two seasons, breaking the bank for him would be a mistake. And while it's fine to argue that Gordon was overpaid, that isn't an excuse to do the same for Lindsay, even if he is a fan favorite.
Off-Ball Linebacker: The 2019 season was a crazy year for off-ball linebacker contracts. Kwon Alexander and C.J. Mosley both massively re-set the market with their monster contracts. That led to the Seahawks breaking the bank when they extended Bobby Wagner.
There was some talk at the time that the Broncos should extend Alexander Johnson before it got even higher, even though Johnson had played just one full season.
Time has told that us that extending Johnson was a bad idea, not because he is playing poorly (he isn't), but because the off-ball linebacker market came back down to earth in 2021.
Players such as Cory Littleton, Blake Martinez and Joe Schobert failed to approach the deals that Alexander and Mosley got, even when you could argue that the three were just as good, if not better, than Alexander.
The lesson to be learned here is this; sometimes teams badly misjudge the market or get too anxious to get a player they covet, even if the player doesn't play a premium position. If a market for a position is going crazy, don't trip over yourself to extend a player, especially when you still have the control to keep him for a couple of years at a lower price.
Paying for Past Performance: This is what I will call the 'Jimmy Graham Rule'. As Fitzgerald points out, Graham hasn't played at an elite level since his time with the Saints, yet continues to get paid deals that put him closer to the top of the list for tight ends.
This is simply a word of caution to Broncos fans to not get too smitten if certain big names become available with the salary cap likely to drop. Some players might be worth adding, but not if they ask for big money. Don't get caught up in past performance that you overpay a player who is strictly average at this point of his career.
Beware of restructuring contracts: Once in a while, it makes sense to restructure a deal, but you don't want to do it too much, because you never know when it will come back to haunt you.
The perfect example is Fitzgerald's pick for the worst NFL contract: Alshon Jeffery. As Fitzgerald wrote, Jeffery's lack of production is bad enough, but the Eagles restructured the deal in 2019 and wound up fully guaranteeing his 2020 salary.
The Eagles seemed to think at the time they were a few players away from another Super Bowl. Instead, things have gotten worse for them, particularly with Carson Wentz's decline, and Jeffery still isn't producing.
The Broncos have generally been smart with their restructures, in that it didn't cripple their ability to address needs elsewhere. But this is a reminder to Broncos fans not to beg for restructures next season in hopes of chasing other players.
And to be clear, there is a difference between asking a player to convert base salary into incentives and asking a player to convert base salary into a signing bonus. The former is really a renegotiation, not a restructure and is better described as a 'pay cut' with the chance to earn money back. That's actually beneficial to a team because of the low risk involved.
The latter, though, means pushing cap hits down the road. Again, there are instances in which it may make sense to do it, but do it too much and it will give you trouble down the road. And if it's a player who isn't performing well at all, better to just cut the player if possible and, if not, to avoid a restructure and ride out the deal until it's possible to cut him.
Follow Bob on Twitter @BobMorrisSports and @MileHighHuddle.
