Contract-year performances can have significant economic consequences. Fortunes can be made and lost when a player is on an expiring contract.
Devin White’s goal for the 2023 season was to become a complete overall linebacker rather than just a blitzing linebacker who made splash plays. This was after a tumultuous offseason in which White asked for a trade because of the lack of a contract extension. White reportedly wanted top off-ball linebacker money. Since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held their ground on White’s trade request and a new deal, he played the 2023 season under an $11.706 million, fifth-year option.
White didn’t accomplish his goal. He was essentially demoted in the playoffs because of confidence in K.J. Britt. His playtime took a drastic drop from 79.38% of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps during the regular season to 30.3% in two playoff games.
White signed a one-year, $4 million deal (worth up to $7.5 million through incentives where $3.25 million was fully guaranteed) with the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency. He claimed he took less money to come to Philadelphia because he wanted to find the right situation.
Things went from bad to worse for White. The Eagles released White in early October after he failed to secure a starting inside linebacker job. White is currently a backup linebacker with the Houston Texans.
With the NFL regular season coming to a close, here are five players who haven’t capitalized on a contract year for a variety of reasons.
Hasson Reddick got a late start to the season because of his dissatisfaction with the three-year, $45 million contract (worth up to $46.5 million through incentives and salary escalators) he received from the Eagles during 2022 free agency. An ill-convinced 90-day holdout ended seven weeks into the season when the Jets, who acquired Reddick from the Eagles for a conditional 2026 third-down pick in early April, inserted $5,341,628 of performance bonuses into his contract.
Reddick had been one of the NFL’s best pass rushers in recent years prior to his return. He was coming off four straight seasons with double-digit sacks, including a career-high 16 in 2022. That Reddick hasn’t shown up this season. He has one-half sack in the nine games he has played since ending his holdout. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Reddick is the only edge player with 175 or more pass rushes who hasn’t gotten at least one sack this season.
Charvarius Ward’s days with 49ers appear to be coming to a close. The 49ers chose to pay fellow cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, who was also in a contract year, in November. Lenoir received a five-year, $88.884 million contract extension with $43,268,889 of guarantees.
Ward has taken a step back from 2023 when he earned Pro Bowl and Second Team All-Pro honors for the first time. He tied for second in the NFL among cornerbacks with five interceptions and had a league-leading 23 passes defended. Opposing quarterbacks had a 63.7 passer rating when targeting him, according to Pro Football Focus. Ward has seven passes defended and no interceptions in 11 games this season. The passer rating for opposing quarterbacks when targeting Ward is 112.6.
Ward has been playing under the most unfortunate circumstances. His 23-month-old daughter, who was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect that required surgery, died earlier this season.
Diontae Johnson has bounced around in 2024. The Steelers traded Johnson and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Carolina Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson and a 2024 sixth-round pick in March after a drama-filled 2023 season. Johnson, who voiced his frustration with being on an uncompetitive one-win Panthers team, was dealt along with a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2025 fifth-round pick eight games into the season. He was Carolina’s leading pass catcher at the time with 30 receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns in the seven games he played with the Panthers.
Johnson had a shorter stint in Baltimore. He was suspended one game for conduct detrimental to the team after refusing to play in a Week 13 game against the Eagles. Following their bye, the Ravens excused him from team activities in Week 15 before releasing him several days later. Johnson had one catch for 6 yards in four games with the Ravens. The Houston Texans claimed Johnson off waivers after wide receiver Tank Dell’s season-ending knee injury.
Johnson’s baggage makes him a buyer-beware proposition in free agency where he is likely looking at a one-year “prove-it” deal in the best situation he can find. The top wide receiver one-year deal in this year’s free agency was the $10 million with an additional $5 million in incentives Mike Williams received from the Jets. Next was the $7 million worth up to $11 million though incentives the Kansas City Chiefs gave Marquise Brown.
Nick Chubb made his 2024 season debut in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals after recovering from the gruesome left knee injury he suffered two games into the 2023 season. He tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus in 2023. It was Chubb’s second serious injury to his left knee. He tore the LCL, MCL and PCL in 2015 while at the University of Georgia.
Unfortunately, Chubb didn’t resemble the player who was in the best NFL running back conversation before the devastating 2023 injury. Chubb had 332 yards on 102 carries with three touchdowns in eight games before a broken left foot ended his season. His 3.3 yards per carry were well below the 5.3 he was averaging for his career when he got hurt last season.
The Browns opted to keep Chubb on a revised contract in which he took a substantial pay cut rather than release him. The base value was $2.05 million, where incentives increased his actual compensation for this season to $3,758,333. Chubb signing an incentive-laden, one-year deal on the open market, where the base value is in the same neighborhood, wouldn’t be a surprise.
The Falcons traded a 2025 third-round pick to the New England Patriots for a disgruntled Matt Judon. The four-time Pro Bowler didn’t insist on a renegotiation of the four-year, $54 million contract (worth up to $56 million through incentives) he signed in 2021 free agency that was the source of his discontent because the Falcons didn’t have any type of track record with him. Maybe, he should have. Judon has 5.5 sacks this season. He is making a nice closing statement as three of his sacks have been in Atlanta’s five games since Week 12’s bye.
Nonetheless, Chandler Jones and Von Miller may serve as cautionary tales for teams about older pass rushers looking for one last nice payday like Judon, who will be 33 before the start of next season. The Las Vegas Raiders signed a 32-year-old Jones to a three-year, $51 million deal with $32 million fully guaranteed in 2022 when he was coming off a 10.5 sack 2021 season. Jones was a disappointment. He had one-half sack in the Raiders’ first 11 games of the 2022 season before finishing with 4.5 sacks. Personal problems prompted the Raiders to release Jones early in the 2023 season.
The Buffalo Bills gave Miller a six-year, $120 million deal with $51.435 million in guarantees, of which $45 million was fully guaranteed at signing, shortly before he turned 33. At best, Miller had a four-year, $70 million contract, averaging $17.5 million per year because $50 million is in the last two years to artificially inflate the deal’s value. Miller was having a good debut season in Buffalo with eight sacks before being sidelined with a torn right ACL after 11 games. A sackless 2023 season in 12 games led to Miller dropping his $17.5 million 2024 salary to fully guaranteed $8.855 million with the opportunity to earn as much as $20 million total through incentives. Another substantial pay cut from the $17.5 million Miller is scheduled to make in 2025 will be necessary for him to have any chance to remain in Buffalo as a 36-year-old since he is strictly a situation pass rusher.
