Athletes

Guarantees Are Gold in NFL Free Agency—but Almost As Rare

NFL players don’t often sign fully guaranteed contracts. That leads to some inflated numbers when new deals come about.

Mar 11, 2025 | 05:00 pm

Dec 8, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) at the line of scrimmage against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium.

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

After several days of NFL free-agent frenzy, and a billion-dollar weekend of deals, players will finally be able to officially sign contracts with new teams when the 2025 league year begins at 4 p.m. ET Wednesday.

The money has been flying around this offseason, as it does every March, with the sport’s best players getting tens—and in some cases hundreds—of millions of dollars from extensions and new contracts. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Because of the NFL’s aversion to fully guaranteed contracts, many of the marquee deals agreed to this week have total sums reported that are far higher than the actual amount of money each team is guaranteeing to said player.

Take Sam Darnold, for example. His new contract with the Seahawks is reportedly a three-year, $100.5 million deal. However, just more than half of it, $55 million, is guaranteed. That makes it unlikely Darnold will actually play all three years of that contract under its initial terms. If he plays poorly, the Seahawks could release him without a huge financial penalty. If he plays well, Darnold will likely seek a raise.

Another example: Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn. His four-year, $100 million extension is a lower total amount than the four-year, $104 million contract defensive tackle Milton Williams signed with the Patriots. However, Horn is guaranteed more money ($70 million) than Williams ($63 million).

Record Deals

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is getting more guaranteed money than any non-quarterback in NFL history ($122.8 million), as part of a four-year, $160 million extension. That comes just three years after Cleveland gave quarterback Deshaun Watson the most guaranteed money ever, $230 million over five years. Watson is unlikely to play in 2025, but he has a $172 million dead-cap hit.

That was until Sunday, when the Bills locked up NFL MVP Josh Allen through 2030 with $250 million in guaranteed money, as part of a deal that, of course, has a much higher reported total value: $330 million.