I gotta be honest, Steelers’ Nation. 12th place for Ladarius Green’s contract? Not as bad as I thought it would be. Jason Fitzgerald on Over the Cap released his rankings of the worst contracts of the 2016 offseason. Green’s contract came in as the 12th worst.
Here’s what Fitzgerald had to say.
“Green only lasted one season for Pittsburgh playing in just 6 games and collecting $6 million for his efforts. Before he even suited up for Pittsburgh he was hurt and at one point it was rumored he might retire which would have benefited the Steelers since he would have had to return his signing bonus. To make matters worse my guess is he may qualify for further CBA injury protection which will add another $1.15 million to the bill.”
Dave Bryan broke down Green’s salary situation shortly after his release. He updated the article after Green was not designated as a post June 1st cut, meaning he’ll count $3.56 million in dead money this upcoming season.
Green was released by the Steelers on Thursday with a failed/physical designation. After signing a four year deal with the team, he caught 18 passes and one touchdown in 2016.
Fitzgerald ranked the contracts of Doug Martin and Mario Williams ahead of Green. The worst contract was deemed to be Dwayne Allen, who signed a four year, $29.4 million deal with the Colts before getting dealt to the Patriots this offseason. I am surprised he beat out Brock Osweiler’s mega-awful deal, who came in second.
Coming in 5th place on this list is Coty Sensabaugh, signed by the Rams to a three year deal, getting released five weeks in, and then signing with the Steelers in the offseason. Ex-Steeler Al Woods came in first on the list, the 30th worst contract of the list.
While it’s one of the worse contracts in Steelers’ free agency history, the team still pinches penny relative to the rest of the league. So when they make a mistake, it stings less than most other team’s big free agency splashes. That’s one upside to an overally shoddy situation.
