Cuts are done, rosters are stabilizing after Week 1 and the dust has settled. Now, it's time to figure out which general managers have the biggest steals on their rosters.
We analyzed the roster of each of the 32 NFL teams and picked out the most valuable contract on each one. In doing this analysis, we considered: present value, likely long-term value and percentage of the salary cap tied up. The length of a deal wasn't really a consideration, because injury can end a player's career at any time and most NFL contracts are structured so that neither side will want to see the end of them.
Finally, we will not use players on rookie contracts, because the entire list would be rookie contracts. All contract information used was cobbled together from Spotrac and Over The Cap data.
Scan through all 32 teams in alphabetical order or click on any team's logo to skip ahead:
Arizona Cardinals: DE Chandler Jones
The deal: Four years, $72.5 million remaining on a five-year, $82.5 million contract with $31 million in guarantees
The Cardinals' salary-cap structure basically boils down to big deals for Jones, Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson. Outside of those three, they have only injury-protected moderate deals for Sam Bradford and Justin Pugh and larger contracts to players we can't project with confidence moving forward.
Jones led the NFL in sacks last season, but because of when he signed his contract, it has rapidly become outdated. Khalil Mack just obtained $60 million in guarantees, and Aaron Donald found $50 million in guarantees. While Jones is up there with these players as far as production, his contract is no longer in the same ballpark. Thus, despite being lavishly paid, he's still a bargain in our eyes.