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With over $680 million in contracts, the Dallas Cowboys pay their players more richly than any other NFL team. They are a mere sixth when it comes to guaranteed month, however. The Kansas City Chiefs have committed a total of $297 million in guaranteed money. That's a lot of dough.
Meanwhile, the cheapest team is the Oakland Raiders who have only committed a whooping $385 million combined, but that doesn't explain why they struggle to win as the second cheapest team is the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. The Patriots also have the least amount of guaranteed money committed to their roster with just $145 million.
So where do the Denver Broncos land?
To put it short, in the middle. The Broncos rank 16th in total contracts at $565 million and 15th in total guaranteed money at $232 million. This pleases me. John Elway appears unwilling to mortgage the future as heavily as a team like the Chiefs, but is willing to offer a competitive wage to players in general. The Broncos rank 12th in average value of contracts, which means Elway is also giving more bang for the buck to Broncos players.
Here's the full list from Spotrac.com:
| Total Contracts | Current Average Contract | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Total Contracts | Total Guarantees | % Guaranteed | Yrs | Value | AAV |
| DAL | $680,797,708 | $263,928,034 | 38.77% | 3 | $7,391,940 | $2,463,980 |
| NO | $647,338,788 | $273,253,853 | 42.21% | 3 | $7,289,851 | $2,429,950 |
| KC | $636,096,945 | $297,026,071 | 46.70% | 3 | $6,983,936 | $2,327,979 |
| PHI | $629,757,638 | $269,193,560 | 42.75% | 3 | $6,622,057 | $2,207,352 |
| GB | $627,809,868 | $196,969,213 | 31.37% | 3 | $6,761,063 | $2,253,688 |
| CLE | $626,160,218 | $261,104,122 | 41.70% | 3 | $6,911,269 | $2,303,756 |
| SD | $621,670,808 | $241,734,405 | 38.88% | 3 | $6,728,038 | $2,242,679 |
| NYJ | $621,638,469 | $268,327,370 | 43.16% | 3 | $6,976,862 | $2,325,621 |
| MIA | $618,930,825 | $284,548,012 | 45.97% | 3 | $7,218,974 | $2,406,325 |
| BUF | $598,197,241 | $255,348,860 | 42.69% | 3 | $6,508,510 | $2,169,503 |
| CIN | $593,412,068 | $174,482,487 | 29.40% | 3 | $6,452,468 | $2,150,823 |
| SF | $586,476,351 | $206,842,065 | 35.27% | 3 | $6,524,378 | $2,174,793 |
| HOU | $584,585,397 | $246,104,135 | 42.10% | 3 | $6,265,652 | $2,088,551 |
| PIT | $578,666,049 | $168,603,850 | 29.14% | 3 | $6,788,933 | $2,262,978 |
| CHI | $571,919,996 | $243,752,708 | 42.62% | 3 | $6,647,655 | $2,215,885 |
| DEN | $565,363,376 | $232,433,959 | 41.11% | 3 | $6,635,720 | $2,211,907 |
| TEN | $557,309,154 | $212,876,210 | 38.20% | 3 | $6,001,822 | $2,000,607 |
| BAL | $556,168,551 | $191,324,617 | 34.40% | 3 | $6,300,764 | $2,100,255 |
| JAC | $548,054,488 | $236,817,396 | 43.21% | 3 | $5,708,900 | $1,902,967 |
| MIN | $545,590,814 | $230,557,700 | 42.26% | 3 | $5,866,567 | $1,955,522 |
| WAS | $541,231,357 | $217,015,230 | 40.10% | 3 | $6,021,040 | $2,007,013 |
| SEA | $539,609,278 | $214,254,356 | 39.71% | 3 | $6,134,246 | $2,044,749 |
| CAR | $526,335,003 | $219,278,595 | 41.66% | 3 | $6,694,953 | $2,231,651 |
| DET | $524,679,426 | $237,186,495 | 45.21% | 3 | $6,382,960 | $2,127,653 |
| ARI | $520,136,900 | $217,626,496 | 41.84% | 3 | $5,933,346 | $1,977,782 |
| NYG | $510,908,078 | $179,358,458 | 35.11% | 3 | $5,992,822 | $1,997,607 |
| STL | $510,602,713 | $251,091,658 | 49.18% | 3 | $5,516,450 | $1,838,817 |
| ATL | $501,120,940 | $189,018,612 | 37.72% | 3 | $5,706,660 | $1,902,220 |
| TB | $489,543,538 | $206,799,053 | 42.24% | 3 | $5,781,099 | $1,927,033 |
| IND | $474,844,610 | $186,906,714 | 39.36% | 3 | $5,361,033 | $1,787,011 |
| NE | $411,716,058 | $145,050,555 | 35.23% | 3 | $5,237,229 | $1,745,743 |
| OAK | $385,167,828 | $162,413,497 | 42.17% | 3 | $4,755,158 | $1,585,053 |