In the NFL, a player’s value goes beyond what he brings to the field.
The looming specter of the league’s hard salary cap means teams have to balance frugal spending with superstar performances. Finding bargains, either in free agency or the draft, is generally paramount to building a contender. The New England Patriots’ dynasty supplemented Tom Brady with contributors on below-market rookie contracts and veterans who accepted inexpensive deals. The Kansas City Chiefs won a Super Bowl thanks in large part to Patrick Mahomes playing like a $35 million starter while on a contract that paid him $24 million … over four years.
There are two categories when it comes to players who provide excess value compared to what they cost against the salary cap. The first are the young players working through rookie contracts while emerging as the next generation of stars. The second are the faded veterans who weren’t priorities in free agency and signed to low-risk deals they quickly outperformed. There are considerably more of the former than the latter, since:
