The most overpaid players in the NFL

With NFL mandatory minicamps now complete and training camps approaching next month, speculation is growing around underperforming players and potential trades ahead of the 2026/27 season.

To identify the league’s most overpaid players, Casino Guru USA analyzed 2026 salary cap hits against each player’s 2025 Approximate Value (AV) score from Pro Football Reference, calculating a cost-per-AV metric and assigning an overpaid score out of 100.

Key findings

• Tennessee Titans’ Dan Moore ranks #1 as the most overpaid player in the NFL, scoring 89/100 with an average salary of $20.5 million
• New Orleans Saints’ Alvin Kamara ranks #2 with a score of 87/100, followed by Chicago Bears’ Grady Jarrett and Boye Mafe of the Cincinnati Bengals sharing third place with scores of 86/100
• Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams is the NFL’s best value player, scoring 3/100, while also boasting the lowest cost per AV of $0.4 million
• Grady Jarrett, the third most overpaid player, tops the list forthe highest cost per AV at $9.5 million

The top five most overpaid players

Dan Moore of the Tennessee Titans tops the list with an overpaid score of 89/100. Despite playing 16 games in 2025/26, Moore recorded an Approximate Value (AV) of just 5, while carrying a $26.3 million cap hit - the highest on the Titans and the second-highest among NFL left tackles. His 62.5 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus ranked 64th at the position, suggesting his on-field production has yet to justify his salary.

Alvin Kamara takes the second spot, scoring 87/100. With an even lower AV than Moore of 4, Kamara’s cost per AV sits at $2.6 million, fitting with the speculation around his future with the Saints after a poor season of scoring only one touchdown and a career-low 11 games.

In third is Grady Jarrett for the Chicago Bears, with a score of 86/100. Once an elite defensive tackle, Jarrett has a significantly low AV of 2 – translating to a cost per AV of $9.5 million – and a 44.5 run-defense grade, which ranks 105th of 134 players of the same position.

Also in third is Boye Mafe of the Cincinnati Bengals, scoring 86/100 – but for a much different reason. Unlike Jarrett, Mafe is very early into his career, having played only four seasons – and in 2025, he totaled just 2 sacks, compared to 9 in 2023, posting a cost per AV of $4.2 million.

Kansas City Chiefs’ Jaylon Moore is in fifth, with a score of 85/100. With a cap hit of $18.7 million, Moore’s AV is just 3 – his pass blocking grade is 57.1, which ranks 72nd of all OTs in the NFL. Not to mention, he’s allowed 27 total pressures across only 427 offensive snaps.

The best value players

On the flip side, Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams is named the player with the best value, earning a low overpaid score of 3/100. With the highest AV of 18 as well as 129 receptions, 1,715 receiving yards, and 10 receiving TDs, all while under a rookie contract, Nacua’s cap hit is just $5.8 million, translating to a cost per AV of $0.3 million.

Philadelphia Eagles’ Jordan Davis is next, scoring 13/100. With a $5.1 million cap hit and a cost per AV of $0.6 million, Davis has a run defense grade of 71.6 – 11th highest among 134 defensive tackles – and in just the third week of the 2025 season, he won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking a potential game-winning Rams field goal and returning it 61 yards for a touchdown.

Marcus Jones, cornerback for the New England Patriots, also shares second place with Jordan Davis with an identical score of 13/100. Earning an AV of 13, Jones achieved 65 tackles, 47 solo tackles, and 3 interceptions during the 25/26 season, resulting in a $0.5 million cost per AV.

Tied in fourth place are Los Angeles Rams’ Byron Young, with an AV of 12 and a $0.5 million cost per AV, Carolina Panthers’ Devin Lloyd (AV of 16 and a $0.4 million cost per AV) Detroit Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs (AV of 15 and a $0.4 million cost per AV), and Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry (AV of 13 and a $0.4 million cost per AV) – each with scores of 15/100.

Conclusion

When evaluating whether NFL players are earning salaries that match their performance, it’s essential to look at the statistics – particularly when they are among the higher-earners within their team or position. Reflecting on the 25/26 season, it’s clear that the most overpaid players in this ranking are not performing to the level they should be, such as Dan Moore, who sits in the bottom 30% of tackles in the whole league.

Methodology

• In June 2026, Casino Guru USA gathered the following metrics on every NFL player:
• 2026 cap totals, sourced from Spotrac - players with a cap hit of less than $5 million were excluded
• 2025 Approximate Value (AV), sourced from Pro Football Reference - AV is the one metric that spans every position, ensuring a fair cross-position comparison
• Cost per AV - cap hit divided by AV, to demonstrate a simple cross-position check on what each point of production cost
• Players who appeared in fewer than 10 games of the 25/26 season were not included in the final rankings, as well as players with no 2025 AV. Additional statistics on performance were sourced from Pro Football Focus and ESPN.

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