Raiders have lowest contract value in NFL, nearly half that of leader

Based on Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie's penchant for not offering big contracts to his players, it could be assumed they would have a pretty low guaranteed money figure as well. A recent study by Business Insider revealed not only do they have the lowest contract value in the league, but they have nearly half that of the Cowboys who lead the NFL.

These figures were collected from data on spotrac.com and the findings show the Raiders have $385.2 million in combined contract value. That's some $26 million less than the Patriots ($411.7 million) who have the second lowest money tied up in contracts, and about $90 million less than the Colts ($474.8 million) who have the third lowest.

Meanwhile the Cowboys have the highest contract values at $680 million. Right in the middle at 16th in the league is the Denver Broncos with a contract value of $565 million.

Here is the full chart:

Along with overall contract values, Raiders also have the second least amount tied up in guarantees. Only the Patriots have less. And being that the Patriots won the Super Bowl, you may look at having low guarantees as a good sign. But consider the Patriots have had the luxury of having a lot of turnover because their system is built around Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Add that players will play for them on the cheap in the hopes of getting a ring and they can do well with their strict rules about contracts.

The Raiders have no such luxury. They have no solid foundation and haven't won more than four games in the three seasons since McKenzie took over and began cleaning out all the big contracts. Not offering guarantees is a great way to continue having a surplus of cap space every year. It's also a great way to guarantee you won't attract a lot of good free agents while scaring away your own quality free agents.

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