With the free agency frenzy and draft behind us, the armchair-GM portion of the NFL offseason has peaked. But there is another roster-tending box that some teams need to check off: deciding whether or not to hand pay increases to veteran players who are seeking (or at least merit) contract extensions.
Which veterans most deserve to be rewarded for their work with both dollars and long-term security? Below, I've spotlighted 10 players who have played at least three seasons in the NFL, meaning they are eligible to sign new contracts with their current teams, ranked according to the urgency with which I would lock them up. Some are multiple contracts into their respective careers, some are still young, but all deserve a raise.
NOTE: All contract figures/rankings discussed below were pulled from Over The Cap.
Current contract: $52 million per year through 2027
Jackson and Patrick Mahomes could probably hold a spot on top of this list forever -- or at least for as long as they are playing football, no matter what their game checks look like. How much is too much to pay a walking, talking ticket to Super Bowl contention? Could any contract possibly ever match the value that Jackson and Mahomes bring to their respective franchises? Jackson has transformed Baltimore into an AFC juggernaut while personally developing into a perennial MVP candidate, becoming the first player in NFL history to throw 40-plus TD passes and rush for 900-plus yards in the same season last year.
Every team is chasing exactly this kind of superpowered generational QB, but most will never get close to rostering one. That feverish pursuit has helped inflate the quarterback market to the point that, somewhat ludicrously, nine signal-callers are paid more per year than the two-time MVP. The game of Highest-Paid-Player Hot Potato often, of course, seems to be driven more by timing than merit, but this discrepancy is begging to be corrected with a new deal for one of the top talents in football. Hopefully, Baltimore's willingness to publicly discuss the topic is a sign that balance will be restored soon -- and with fewer bumps on the road to resolution than we saw last time.
Current contract: $21 million per year through 2025
We don't need to recount every time Hendrickson's monetary tug of war with the Bengals has bubbled into public view to understand the stark disparity between his compensation and his production. In 2024, Hendrickson led the NFL with 17.5 sacks, the same total he had in 2023, giving him 35 over the past two seasons -- more than anyone else in the league in that time period. Those who prefer pressures should be equally impressed, thanks to his league-high 92 last season, per Next Gen Stats, with his total over the past two years (173) ranking third in that span. In short, few individuals are as effective at chasing the quarterback -- but several individuals are currently earning a higher salary than Hendrickson. His average per year (APY) of $21 million ranks 11th among edge rushers and 30th among all defenders. I understand the apprehension to committing significant cap space to another individual, given that Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are all bound to lucrative long-term deals, but Cincinnati was sunk last season by the subpar performance of a defense that is not exactly crawling with star power. It's worth paying the going rate for elite pass-rush prowess to keep Hendrickson on the field.
Current contract: $4.27 million per year through 2025
The structured nature of the modern NFL career path -- regulated by rookie pay scales, fifth-year options, the franchise tag and, of course, the salary cap -- has a way of sapping contract negotiations of their drama, leaving us to chew over the same stale talking points until one of a few inevitable conclusions is reached. Sometimes it feels like we've been agonizing over a Parsons extension for as long as he's been in the NFL. Should the Cowboys pay whatever it takes to lock up one of the most impactful players in the league? What kind of a question is that? Just three guys since 1960 have collected 50-plus sacks, nine-plus passes defensed and nine-plus forced fumbles in their first four pro seasons, and Parsons is one of them. The other two: Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware and imminent Hall of Famer J.J. Watt. Should the Cowboys have extended him as soon as possible? That's a slightly more interesting angle with, to me, an equally straightforward answer: Of course. Parsons, who is currently set to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, was first eligible for a new deal last offseason, which, yes, was well before Myles Garrett ($40 million per year), Danielle Hunter ($35.6 million per year) and Maxx Crosby ($35.5 million per year) pushed the pass-rusher market higher with their own extensions. Instead of dragging this saga further into potential workout-skipping territory, let's put a button on the whole thing with a record-setting raise and move on.
Current contract: $23.2 million per year through 2025
It might seem like only yesterday that we were talking about Washington needing to pay McLaurin, but it was actually many more days than that; 1,072, to be exact, since he signed the extension he is currently set to play out in 2025. And those 1,072 days have been, uh, eventful for the Commanders. Back in the summer of 2022, McLaurin was one of the few good things going in Washington, and the Commanders would have been foolish not to extend him. Three years later, the Commanders would again be foolish not to extend him, but thankfully, they have many more good things going, starting with the total franchise rebirth sparked by Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels. McLaurin was as reliably productive as ever in 2024, becoming one of just four players (along with Davante Adams, Mike Evans and Justin Jefferson) to clock 1,000-plus receiving yards in each of the past five seasons. And for the first time in McLaurin's career, all that production pushed his team to a winning record, giving the Pro Bowler a chance to feast on the playoff stage (14 catches for 227 yards and three TDs) during a thrilling Washington run that ended on Championship Sunday. The Commanders need McLaurin to make the most of the window of contention that Daniels flung open.
Current contract: $28 million per year through 2025
As with Hendrickson, Jackson and Mahomes, Watt's current placement in the pay-per-year hierarchy at his position (seventh among edge rushers, at an average of $28 million per year) just looks off. He is one of just a handful of active players with 100-plus career sacks. He's a seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time first-team All-Pro who remains a plausible threat to win a second Defensive Player of the Year award at any time. Like the Browns did with Garrett, the Steelers would do well to reward someone who is certain to play at an All-Star level on defense, even as Pittsburgh's immediate ceiling remains clouded by shakiness elsewhere.
Current contract: $4.16 million per year through 2025
Is it overly simplistic to draw parallels between what Jim Harbaugh's doing with the Chargers and his largely outstanding previous run with the 49ers? Sure, but man, this one is just sitting right there, staring at us. From 2011 through 2014, Harbaugh had a rock at left tackle to help make Greg Roman's offense go: 2007 first-round pick Joe Staley, who truly came into his own in that period, earning four straight Pro Bowl nods (out of six in his career). And, hey, what do you know, Slater is also A) a former first-round pick and B) served as a rock at left tackle in Harbaugh's first year with the Bolts, helping make Greg Roman's offense go while C) earning a Pro Bowl nod. OK, so Slater already made the Pro Bowl once before, as a rookie, but it's still an encouraging sign that he was able to get back to that level in 2024 after missing most of 2022 with a torn biceps and dealing with an ankle injury in 2023. Among left tackles who logged 400-plus pass-blocking snaps in 2024, Slater allowed the sixth-lowest pressure rate (7.8%) and seventh-lowest sack rate (1.0%), per Next Gen Stats. Slater looks like a strong foundational piece for wherever Harbaugh is going to take Los Angeles from here, and it would be prudent to lock him into place for the long-term future.
Current contract: $1.45 million per year through 2025
We are going to get into some slightly goofy math here, but bear with me, because it will definitely be worth it: Dividing Bonitto's APY ($1.45 million) by his team-leading 13.5 sacks in 2024 works out to $107,407 per sack in APY. That might seem like a decent amount, until you put it next to Trey Hendrickson's APY-per-sack mark of $1.2 million last season on a deal that we're counting as an underpay in Hendrickson's blurb above. My colleague Kevin Patra recently urged the Broncos to get Bonitto extended, and I hereby cosign that take. The defense was a huge part of what helped Denver snap an eight-year playoff drought last season, and locking up a 25-year-old Pro Bowler now makes plenty of sense.
Current contract: $1.46 million per year through 2025
You've got to scroll pretty far down Over the Cap's contracts table to find Cook and the extremely modest APY ($1.46 million) that came with his rookie pact. That's the reality of his draft slot (Round 2, No. 63 overall). It also means he's been providing the Bills with extreme value as the leader of their powerful offense in touches (630) and yards from scrimmage (3,521) over the past three seasons. Should he be vaulted to the upper reaches of running back pay rankings? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't sweat that question too much, given that the current ruler of the roost, Saquon Barkley, is not projected to count for more than 4.2% of the Eagles' cap spending in any of the next three seasons, and those hierarchies are constantly shifting; what looks like a major deal for Cook now could seem like a financial rounding error in short order. Whether or not Cook gets what he's seeking or has to play out the final year of his rookie contract, he is indisputably deserving of a significant bump in pay.
Current contract: $5.14 million per year through 2026
Arguments could be made to extend several promising youngsters on the Jets roster, including versatile O-lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker and cornerback Sauce Gardner. Both will be important to the success of the Aaron Glenn regime. But to me, Wilson stands out as someone who can provide the offense with reliable, high-level play while Glenn pushes the defense forward. Wilson is one of just nine players to post 1,000-plus receiving yards in each of the past three seasons -- consistency that Glenn might find comforting, given that one of the other members of that group is former Lions colleague Amon-Ra St. Brown. The fact that Wilson has produced like clockwork while catching passes from a wide range of quarterbacks only bodes well for Justin Fields, who, you might have heard, has already made beautiful music with his former Ohio State teammate. And regardless of what the Jets do at QB long-term, a successful season by Fields will further boost Glenn's chances of finally getting this franchise turned around. New York should lock Wilson up as a set-it-and-forget-it rock and ensure at least one roster spot doesn't have to be worried over by the new regime.
Current contract: $3.5 million per year through 2026
While the offensive formula has shifted over the past few seasons in Kansas City, with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid maximizing a mix-and-match cast of skill-position players, the Chiefs' defense has risen, thanks in part to an emerging core around stalwart defensive lineman Chris Jones that includes Nick Bolton, George Karlaftis and McDuffie, chosen 21st overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. McDuffie earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2023 while playing mostly in the slot, racking up three sacks and five forced fumbles, then stepped up nicely in the wake of L'Jarius Sneed's departure last offseason, sliding into Sneed's place as the team's top outside corner. In addition to logging his first two NFL picks in 2024, McDuffie finished with a team-high 13 passes defended and forced a tight-window throw on 33.3% of his targets, sixth-best among players with 50-plus targets, per Next Gen Stats. The Chiefs could slow-play McDuffie's extension, using the fifth-year option for 2026 to give them some extra cushion. But I would urge them to consider following the Texans' approach to Derek Stingley Jr. by paying now to lock up a franchise cornerstone at a price that is unlikely to get more favorable going forward.
Let's talk about Baker Mayfield
I didn't want to include Mayfield in The Official List of 10 above, because there are no signs as of now that he will actually get a raise just one year after inking his current contract. But I did want to squeeze in a little discussion of him here, because he undoubtedly should make more than $33.33 million per year, which puts him below Sam Darnold, Geno Smith and Kirk Cousins on the contracts table. And, yes, that APY is roughly $20 million per year less than what Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff and Brock Purdy are receiving. In 2024, Mayfield was one of three QBs (joining Goff and Joe Burrow) to throw for 4,500-plus yards, while his 41 TD passes tied him for second-most in the NFL (with Jackson, behind Burrow's 43). Whatever you think about QB pay -- to me, every player above Mayfield absolutely deserves every penny of what the market will bear -- Mayfield's current pact stands out as a jaw-dropping discount for the Bucs.
