Each NFC team's most overpaid and underpaid players
Most deals of the 2025 NFL offseason are in the books, so it's time to look at each team's contract situation to evaluate their most overpaid and underpaid players ahead of the new season.
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(Salary information courtesy of Over The Cap)
Arizona Cardinals
Overpaid: Josh Sweat
AAV: $19.1M (EDGE15)
Signed 4-year, $76.4M deal in 2025
Sweat was an important member of the Eagles last season, but it feels like the Cardinals got a little too excited about his 2.5-sack Super Bowl performance. Arizona gave big-time money to a 28-year-old pass-rusher who's only had more than eight sacks once (11 in 2022).
Underpaid: Michael Wilson
AAV: $1.3M (WR136)
4-year rookie deal worth $5.3M
Arizona has gotten great value from Wilson, who they selected at 94th overall in 2023. He's shown good signs as the team's No. 2 receiver, averaging 43 catches, 557 yards, and four touchdowns per season.
Atlanta Falcons
Overpaid: Kirk Cousins
AAV: $45M (QB14)
Signed 4-year, $180M deal in 2024
The Cousins experiment didn't go as planned for the Falcons, as the veteran quarterback struggled in his first year following an Achilles injury. He's now the team's backup QB and highest-paid player.
Underpaid: Bijan Robinson
AAV: $5.5M (RB17)
4-year rookie deal worth $21.9M
Atlanta got the most out of its former top-10 pick in 2024, as Robinson amassed 1,887 yards and 15 touchdowns from scrimmage during the second year of his rookie contract.
Carolina Panthers
Overpaid: Jaycee Horn
AAV: $25M (CB2)
Signed 4-year, $100M deal in 2025
Horn is Carolina's most talented defensive back, but that doesn't justify making him the NFL's second-highest-paid corner. The 2021 first-round pick has never played a full season and registered only one interception in the past two years while allowing seven touchdowns, according to Football Reference.
Underpaid: Michael Jackson
AAV: $5.2M (CB41)
Signed 2-year, $10.5M deal in 2025
After playing on a one-year, $1.2-million contract, Jackson earned a two-year extension this offseason. Still, he's making almost $3 million less than his Over The Cap valuation. The 28-year-old led all Panthers cornerbacks in pass breakups and interceptions last season.
Chicago Bears
Overpaid: Tremaine Edmunds
AAV: $18M (LB3)
Signed 4-year, $72M deal in 2023
Edmunds hasn't played badly, but he isn't one of the NFL's top-five off-ball linebackers. Yet Chicago has almost $20 million per year committed to him.
Underpaid: Gervon Dexter
AAV: $1.6M (DL86)
4-year rookie deal worth $6.7M
A 2023 second-round pick, Dexter had a strong sophomore campaign as a disruptive interior pass-rusher, registering five sacks and 19 QB hits. Chicago has him under his rookie contract for two more years.
Dallas Cowboys
Overpaid: Dak Prescott
AAV: $60M (QB1)
Signed 4-year, $240M deal in 2024
Prescott is the highest-paid player in NFL history. The 31-year-old is an established franchise QB, but his playoff shortcomings with Dallas make it hard to justify such a big deal.
Underpaid: Micah Parsons
AAV: $4.2M (EDGE82)
4-year rookie deal worth $17M
2025 5th-year option: $24M
Parsons' services won't come at the same discount in 2025 after the Cowboys exercised his option. The four-time Pro Bowler made an average of $4 million per year over the past four seasons, providing Dallas with absurd value in the form of a top-five NFL defender. However, even the $24 million from Parsons' fifth year doesn't rank in the top seven among edge rushers.
Detroit Lions
Overpaid: Jared Goff
AAV: $53M (QB7)
Signed 4-year, $212M deal in 2024
It's OK to overpay an established starting QB, but Goff didn't live up to his massive contract in the playoffs last season. There's a lot of pressure on the veteran passer to deliver when it matters most, and he failed to do so in the first season after signing his extension.
Underpaid: Brian Branch
AAV: $2M (SAF61)
4-year rookie deal worth $8M
Many expected Branch to go in the first round two years ago, but he fell to the Lions at No. 45. Detroit has since gotten great production from a Pro Bowler under a rookie contract. He forms one of football's best safety duos with Kerby Joseph.
Green Bay Packers
Overpaid: Aaron Banks
AAV: $19.2M (G6)
Signed 4-year, $77M deal in 2025
The Packers needed a new starter and gave Banks a huge deal this offseason. The 27-year-old did post a strong 2024 campaign as a run-blocker on the 49ers, but he ranked only 77th in pass-blocking among guards by PFF. He also missed at least two games in each of the past two seasons, including four last year. Green Bay seemingly didn't take any of that into account.
Underpaid: Zach Tom
AAV: $1M (RT67)
4-year rookie deal worth $4.1M
Few offensive tackles are more reliable than Tom, who hasn't missed a start in two seasons. He gives the Packers excellent value as a 2022 fourth-round pick on a rookie deal. Green Bay pays less than $2 million per year on average for its starting tackles, Tom and Rasheed Walker.
Los Angeles Rams
Overpaid: Tutu Atwell
AAV: $10M (WR32)
Signed 1-year, $10M deal in 2025
Los Angeles is taking a risk with Atwell's fully guaranteed contract. The total amount may not be absurd, but it's more than expected given his production. The former second-round pick, projected to be L.A.'s No. 3 receiver, hasn't caught a touchdown since 2023.
Underpaid: Puka Nacua
AAV: $1M (WR233)
4-year rookie deal worth $4.1M
The Rams have had more than a few recent draft steals, so they roster multiple starters under rookie deals. That includes Nacua, a fan favorite and already one of football's best receivers. The 2023 fifth-round pick has recorded 184 catches, 2,476 yards, and nine touchdowns in two NFL seasons.
Minnesota Vikings
Overpaid: Will Fries
AAV: $17.5M (G10)
Signed 5-year, $87.7M deal in 2025
Minnesota is gambling with Fries, who inked a huge deal after missing most of last season due to a fractured tibia. He made 33 appearances with Indianapolis from 2022-23 but didn't perform like a top-10 guard, allowing 50 pressures, according to PFF.
Underpaid: Jordan Addison
AAV: $3.4M (WR65)
4-year rookie deal worth $13.7M
Addison ranks fifth with 19 receiving touchdowns over the last two seasons, and he's also in the top 30 for yards. The 2023 first-round pick, who forms a premier duo with Justin Jefferson, remains on his rookie contract.
New Orleans Saints
Overpaid: Chase Young
AAV: $17M (EDGE20)
Signed 3-year, $51M deal in 2025
Young's average salary doesn't match his production. He had 5.5 sacks in 2024 and hasn't put up more than 7.5 in a season. Although the former Defensive Rookie of the Year recorded the 15th-most pressures in the league last year, that was his first time in the top 20 for that category.
Underpaid: Demario Davis
AAV: $8.6M (LB13)
Signed 2-year, $17.2M extension in 2024
It's rare to list a 36-year-old defender as underpaid, but Davis' consistency, combined with the Saints' several bad contracts, gives him a spot here. The leader of New Orleans' defense has consistently been a top-five off-ball linebacker, while his salary isn't even in the top 10 at the position.
New York Giants
Overpaid: Andrew Thomas
AAV: $23.5M (LT5)
Signed 5-year, $117.5M deal in 2023
When healthy, Thomas is a reliable lineman. However, his availability has been a big issue. Over the last four seasons, the 26-year-old has missed 23 games, 18 of which have come after he signed his huge extension with the Giants.
Underpaid: Malik Nabers
AAV: $7.3M (WR38)
4-year rookie deal worth $29.2M
Nabers is a former No. 6 overall pick, so his salary isn't bad at all. Until he breaks the bank with an extension, New York will have a sensational receiver on a discount, though. He caught 109 passes - the second-most ever by a rookie, trailing only fellow freshman Brock Bowers - for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024.
Philadelphia Eagles
Overpaid: Jake Elliott
AAV: $6M (K2)
Signed 4-year, $24M extension in 2024
With Bryce Huff traded to San Francisco, the Eagles don't really have a terrible contract on their books. However, Elliott's 2024 regular season was far from what Philly expected after making him one of the NFL's top-paid kickers last year. Elliott converted only 77.8% of his field-goal attempts, the league's seventh-worst mark. He improved in the playoffs but still had his first postseason FG miss as well as three missed extra points.
Underpaid: Jalen Carter
AAV: $5.4M (DL43)
4-year rookie deal worth $21.8M
The Eagles roster several players on great contracts, but none of them offers a better value than Carter, an All-Pro lineman who's entering the third year of his rookie deal. The 2023 top-10 pick could become the league's highest-paid D-lineman in a couple of years.
Seattle Seahawks
Overpaid: Noah Fant
AAV: $10.5M (TE11)
Signed 2-year, $21M deal in 2024
Multiple Seahawks players are signed to contracts with poor value, but it's hard not to go with Fant here. He's scored one touchdown in his last 31 games, and his 500 receiving yards last year ranked 18th among tight ends.
Underpaid: Riq Woolen
AAV: $998K (CB212)
4-year rookie deal worth $3.9M
Jaxon Smith-Njigba would've been an obvious answer here, but the 1,000-yard receiver's average salary ($3.6 million) is significantly higher than Woolen's. They're both under rookie contracts, but Woolen is a former fifth-rounder who's already been to the Pro Bowl and amassed 11 interceptions in three seasons, including an NFL-high six in 2022.
San Francisco 49ers
Overpaid: Brandon Aiyuk
AAV: $30M (WR7)
Signed 4-year, $120M deal in 2024
Aiyuk inked a massive extension after becoming an All-Pro in 2023, the fourth year of his rookie contract. That remains his only great NFL season, though. A torn ACL ended Aiyuk's 2024 prematurely, but he averaged only 2.4 yards of separation before the injury, according to Next Gen Stats.
Underpaid: Dominick Puni
AAV: $1.4M (G66)
4-year rookie deal worth $5.7M
Puni exceeded expectations as a rookie right guard, starting every offensive snap for the 49ers en route to finishing the season as a top-10 guard, according to PFF. His impressive workload, combined with his low salary, deservedly resulted in a large payout from the league's performance-based pay.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Overpaid: Antoine Winfield Jr.
AAV: $21M (SAF2)
Signed 4-year, $84M deal in 2024
Winfield is a very good player. That's not in question. But his injury history could make his contract situation look bad for Tampa Bay. The former All-Pro defensive back has played a full season just once over the past four years while missing 16 contests during that span.
Underpaid: Bucky Irving
AAV: $1.2M (RB71)
4-year rookie deal worth $4.7M
This pick came down to Irving and corner Zyon McCollum, but the tailback's spectacular 2024 rookie campaign spoke louder. Irving became the first Bucs player to top 1,000 rushing yards since 2012 and finished the year with 1,514 yards and eight touchdowns from scrimmage. What a steal for Tampa Bay.
Washington Commanders
Overpaid: Marshon Lattimore
AAV: $19.5M (CB7)
Signed 5-year, $97.6M deal in 2021
Washington acquired Lattimore and his contract from New Orleans last year, but the early results weren't promising. The former Pro Bowl corner has battled injuries and allowed a 105.4 passer rating in coverage since joining the Commanders.
Underpaid: Jayden Daniels
AAV: $9.4M (QB27)
4-year rookie deal worth $37.7M
This is an obvious one. Daniels posted arguably the greatest freshman campaign ever in 2024, and Washington will have him under his rookie deal for four more years, assuming the team picks up his fifth-year option.