Who has Raiders best, worst contract?

Not only has Reggie McKenzie been taking a frugal approach to most existing (or former) Raiders players, he also handed out a lot of free agent deals this off-season taking a similar approach. Now Overthecap.com has decided who in their view has the best and worst contract on the team.

And the winner of the best contract is:

CB Tarell Brown

Here is some of what OTC's Jason Fitzgerald had to say about Brown and his contract

I selected Tarell Brown because I feel he not only has the most upside of their signings but was someone that probably could have gotten a better contract elsewhere. Brown's deal is a pure one year contract worth $3.5 million, all of which is guaranteed. That is in the same range as players like the always injured Dimitri Patterson, Antonio Cromartie and Charles Tillman, all of whom are coming off worse seasons with more to prove than Brown.

To read the entire assessment, click here

Brown was definitely one of the better free agents the team signed this off-season. He is one of the few sub 30-year-old (29) free agents the team signed and he has a great deal of starting experience (42 games last 3 seasons) on a talented and successful defense. Really the only downside to his deal is it is just one year, so if he plays well, the Raiders could end up losing him to a big contract elsewhere.

Now for who Fitzgerald sees as having the worst contract:

K Sebastian Janikowski

Here is some of what he had say

Amazingly the Raiders rewarded Janikowski with a new contract that would guarantee him $8 million, which worked out on a yearly basis to about double the closest guarantees at the position. The Raiders had moved away from using signing bonuses but gave one to Janikowski anyway such that he would still have $1 million in dead money in 2015 if they cut ties with him.

Janikowski's contract ranks in the top 10 of the Raiders annual salary structure, top 3 in total value for the team among veterans, and first overall among kickers in the NFL. He has never been the best kicker in the NFL and only been selected to participate in one Pro Bowl. The Raiders making him highest paid and guaranteed kicker just defies all logic for whatever the team seems to be trying to accomplish as they rebuild their franchise.

To read the entire assessment, click here

Fitzgerald also had Janikowski as his pick for the Raiders' worst contract last off-season. And that was before his extension. It's hard to say he's dead wrong about Janikowski. The big legged kicker has always tantalized us all with his ability to kick from just about anywhere inside the opponent's 50-yard line while simultaneously confusing us all with his penchant for injuries and blowing chip shots.

In Janikowski's defense, however, he has been Pro Bowl worthy more than just the one time. He was also invited more than once, he just turned down the other opportunity to play in the game as a replacement. He also has set many NFL kicking records and that is worth something. He just has to stay healthy and that requires committing to fitness which is not something the Polish Cannon is known for.

If it hadn't been Janikowski named as the worst contract, it would have been free agent addition Austin Howard. This is due in large part to his contract details not being all they were cracked up to be. Read more about that here.

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