Every team has a bad contract or two on their roster. That is just the nature of the NFL as nearly every team is trying to spend all of its salary cap space on talent acquisition. But there are a handful of contracts in the NFL that are significantly worse than others. And the Raiders have one on their books.
In a recent article by Bleacher Report, they ranked the ten worst contracts in the NFL heading into the season. Coming in at No. 3 was the Chandler Jones deal as he still has two years and $34 million left on the contract. Here is a snippet of why the site believes it’s among the worst deals in the league:
That drop-off didn’t deter the Raiders from doling out a big contract to a player well on the wrong side of 30. Despite playing with one of the league’s top up-and-coming edge rushers in Maxx Crosby, Jones’ inaugural season in Vegas went poorly. He finished with a meager 4.5 sacks in 15 contests while earning a pedestrian 63.8 PFF grade for his efforts.
The Raiders can get out of Jones’ contract after the 2023 season with a $12.3 million dead cap hit and that seems likely after the team used the No. 7 pick on Tyree Wilson this offseason. However, the Raiders would love for Jones to bounce back and be a Pro Bowl player again.
But at the age of 33, that probably isn’t very likely. Instead, the expectation should be that Jones can be a 6-8 sack player in 2023 and give the Raiders a solid player opposite of Maxx Crosby. If he can do that and stay on the field, this will no longer look like one of the worst deals in the league.
