NFL Contracts That Teams Wish Would Disappear in 2022

With the last of the confetti from Super Bowl LVI swept away from SoFi Stadium, the 2021-22 NFL season is officially in the books, and the league's 32 teams will now look ahead to the offseason. 

The new league year and free agency will begin at 4 p.m. ET on March 16. Currently, nine teams are over the $208.2 million salary cap and will have to clean up their books before that date. 

Many of those teams—and even ones that aren't currently in salary cap hell—wish that some of those contracts would magically disappear.

Past regimes, and perhaps the same general managers who made those deals, are giving the 2022 iterations of these clubs a headache with contracts that were already risky at the time. In other cases, the player simply has not panned out as the club would have hoped. 

We'll break down six of those contracts teams would love a mulligan on. These contracts were chosen either because they exist in the intersection of poor recent production and overall value of the remaining contract or because the dead cap figures are significant, prohibiting the teams from getting out of the deals early. 

Contract terms: four years, $128 million; $108 million guaranteed; 2022 cap hit: $28.3 million   

It's no secret that Carson Wentz's first season in Indianapolis didn't go as planned. The signal-caller had the second-lowest interception rate of his career (1.4) and threw seven picks overall, but he came up short when his team needed him the most. 

The Colts had two win-and-in games in Weeks 17 and 18 but couldn't get it done despite having the best run game in the league last season. In those two games, Wentz generated a total of 333 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception and one fumble while completing just 58.9 percent of his passes.

Appearing on ESPN Sunday morning (via Pro Football Talk), Chris Mortensen said the situation between Wentz and the Colts looks "bleak" and described it as a "one-year marriage that went wrong."

The team "did not give him support verbally after the season," Mortensen said, "and they weren't guaranteeing him anything. Well, right now, it looks bleak. And by March 18, he'll probably be traded or released."

March 18, of course, is when $15 million of Wentz's base salary is guaranteed. If they could trade the signal-caller before then, they'd avoid any dead cap. 

The most tragic part for the Colts is that they gave up a first-round pick (No. 16 overall) in the upcoming draft to the Philadelphia Eagles for a quarterback who, in all likelihood, will have only played one season for the franchise.

The Colts could have used that pick to draft Liberty quarterback Malik Willis. Instead, they will either have to draft a prospect in what is widely considered a weak class or pick up a free agent to compete with Sam Ehlinger in training camp. 

For some of the other teams on this list, we can use contract data and recent stats to make an informed guess that they want these deals off their books. But in the Colts' case, we now know it. 

Contract terms: four years, $66 million; $20 million guaranteed; 2022 cap hit: $27.7 million

Some of the teams on this list not only have contracts on the books they wish would disappear in 2022, but there is no longer a place on the team for that player at all. (See: Carson Wentz.) That's not the case for Green Bay Packers edge-rusher Za'Darius Smith.

A locker room leader and fan favorite since he arrived via free agency in 2019, Smith racked up 26 sacks, 29 tackles for loss and 60 QB hits over his first two seasons in Green Bay. He's been a crucial part of transforming the defense into a stout unit. 

Smith missed nearly the entire 2021 season with a lingering back injury, yet the Green Bay pass rush didn't implode because of it. The unit could have been more effective with Smith, but the Packers still finished the season tied for 15th in sacks—with 39— as well as pressure percentage.

Smith's contract is not unfair, either. The total value of his contract makes him the ninth-highest-paid outside linebacker in the league. In 2020, his 12.5 total sacks were tied for fourth in the league. His 13.5 sacks in 2019 were sixth.

But the Packers are $48.5 million over the cap with a laundry list of impending free agents, and Smith is set to count $27.7 million against the cap in 2022. And as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Sunday, the team is "willing to do what is necessary contract-wise" to extend quarterback Aaron Rodgers. 

If the Packers were to trade or cut Smith this offseason, they'd save $15.3 million against the cap. They could also try to restructure his deal. But as it stands, it's hamstringing everything else they need to accomplish with the roster. 

Contract terms: six years, $84 million; $44.5 million guaranteed; 2022 cap hit: $16.2 million

The Washington Commanders aren't in a bad spot with their salary cap heading into 2022. With $30.4 million available, they have some flexibility to re-sign unrestricted free agents or even try and trade for a big-name quarterback this offseason. 

But Washington's cap health could be in much better shape without Landon Collins' deal weighing it down. The safety is the team's highest-paid player by far, both in terms of overall value and guaranteed money. 

Washington signed Collins to the then-record contract in 2019 free agency, and even at the time, it didn't seem prudent. Collins is a box defender, but the team was paying him top dollar for the position.

Collins led the team with 117 tackles in his first season but was limited to seven games in 2020 with a torn Achilles tendon. This past season, Collins had 81 tackles, two picks, two passes defended, a forced fumble and three sacks in 13 games as part of a pass defense that gave up the fourth-most yards and most touchdowns.

Collins has a cap hit of $16.2 million in 2022, and though the team has a potential out this season, with only his prorated signing bonus of $4.2 million guaranteed, he carries a dead cap hit of $9.6 million if cut before June 1. 

Contract terms: five years, $150 million; $100 million guaranteed; 2022 cap hit: $48.7 million

When seemingly every new quarterback contract must outperform the one given out before it, one of two things happen: The signal-caller lessens the sting of the cap hit by bringing the franchise to the Super Bowl, or the team becomes restrained by the contract and falls out of contention. 

The latter is the unfortunate situation the Atlanta Falcons face. In May 2018, Matt Ryan became the first quarterback to earn $100 million in guaranteed money.

At the time, Ryan was coming off a 4,095-yard and 20-touchdown season; however, in 2016, he threw for a career-high 4,944 yards and 38 touchdowns en route to an MVP award and led Atlanta to their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1998 season.

The Falcons lost in the divisional round in the 2017 campaign and haven't had a winning season since.

The balance of power is shifting in the NFC South, and the team has four picks in the top 75 of the upcoming draft. But the team is currently $5.9 million over the cap, and Ryan's contract ensures they won't be able to make a splash in free agency this offseason. 

Ryan's $48.7 million cap hit in 2022 leads all active contracts. Even if the team cut or traded him after June 1, his cap hit would still be $24.9 million, making moving on from him this season unfeasible. 

Contract terms: four years, $156 million; $111 million guaranteed; 2022 cap hit: $40.4 million

The Houston Texans are ready to find their quarterback of the future (if he's not already on the roster, in Davis Mills) and move onto the next era.

But Deshaun Watson's contract continues to hinder their ability to plan for the future.

The Texans' cap situation isn't dire this offseason; the team has $19.9 million in available space. But 19 percent of their cap spending is going toward a player who didn't play a snap in 2021 amid 22 civil lawsuits and 10 criminal complaints from women alleging sexual assault and misconduct.

ESPN's Adam Schefter had reported in January 2021 that Watson had requested a trade from the team, but the emergence of the lawsuits and then complaints made dealing the signal-caller impossible. This offseason, Houston can save $24.2 million against the cap by trading him before June 1 and $35 million by trading him after—if they can even find a partner.

Furthermore, the asking price is astronomical. According to The Athletic's Jeff Howe, the Texans are seeking at least three first-round picks for Watson.

If Houston wanted to cut Watson outright, they'd have to eat his $40.4 million cap hit.

Contract terms: five years, $104 million; $62.3 million guaranteed; 2022 cap hit: $26.3 million

The Kansas City Chiefs are licking their wounds after falling to the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime in the AFC Championship Game. 

The Chiefs' 2020 Super Bowl core is still intact; quarterback Patrick Mahomes is under contract until 2032, wideout Tyreek Hill is signed through the 2022 season and tight end Travis Kelce doesn't become a free agent until 2026. On the other side of the ball, defensive end Frank Clark, who had a sack, a tackle for loss and two QB hits in that Super Bowl win, is signed through 2024. 

The Chiefs probably wish he weren't. 

Clark has the third-highest cap hit on the team's roster in 2022 at $26.3 million. He also had the highest non-QB cap hit in 2021. 

His play doesn't back that up, though. Since the Super Bowl win, Clark has had 10.5 sacks, four tackles for loss and 17 QB hits. The Chiefs had the 27th-ranked pass defense in 2021, but two of their three highest-paid players are defensive linemen. 

The worst part of this contract is that the Chiefs are without many options. Cutting Clark before June 1 would leave them with $13.6 million in dead cap. They'd still have $6.8 million in dead cap if they cut him after that. And no team is likely going to trade for his bloated contract. 

If Kansas City wants to maximize its Super Bowl window, it has to hope that Clark plays like the top edge-rusher he is in 2022. 

All contract information and cap figures via Spotrac.