2023 NFL best value contracts, rookie deals at every position - ESPN

NFL contracts can be a lot to digest. Full guarantees, injury guarantees, roster bonuses, signing bonuses, option bonuses, dead money… the complexities of the salary cap and contract math can sometimes make it tough to tell what is actually a good deal in the NFL.

Signings that don't go well — those that turn out to be albatrosses for the teams that gave them out — tend to get the most attention, but we wanted to focus today on the opposite end of the spectrum, with a closer look at deals that are working out well for the team side. That means players whose performance relative to their pay give their teams a cap advantage. In other words, it's the best bang-for-your-buck deals around the league.

This requires a little bit of explanation, though. Because of the nature of rookie deals, we could make this list out of nothing but players on first contracts. So we broke it into two divisions at each position. The first is just the best value veteran deals for players on at least their second NFL contract. The other points to the best bang-for-your-buck rookie deals, contracts for players who haven't yet reached free agency and are still playing on the deals they got when they were drafted or signed as undrafted college free agents. Here's our look at guys who are providing major value in 2023 for each category, position by position.

Jump to position:
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | IOL
EDGE | DT | LB | CB | S

He was the throw-in. The guy the Lions had to take back if they wanted to unload Matthew Stafford's contract on the Rams when Stafford decided he wanted out and the Rams identified him as the guy to help them win a Super Bowl. And once thought to be a bridge quarterback, Goff has stuck around in Detroit, now piloting one of the