Judge's deal joins biggest active contracts in MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL
Aaron Judge will remain with the New York Yankees, and for quite a bit of money.
Judge will be making $360 million over nine years in one of the largest contracts in MLB history. It’s no surprise, considering he’s coming off a year in which he broke the American League home run record with 62 and won the AL MVP to boot. Big contracts like this don’t always work out — although if the Yankees end up winning a title, their fans won’t care too much.
Where does his haul rank among the largest in the four major American men’s sports? Here’s the list.
MLB
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels: 12 years, $426.5 million
Year signed: 2019
Trout has been either the best player in baseball or close to it for the better part of a decade, and the Angels rewarded him accordingly. At the time he signed this deal, it was the richest contract in professional American sports. Though he’s been hampered by injuries, he’s put up 17.8 WAR in 342 games and won the 2019 MVP since the signing.
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers: 12 years, $365 million
Year signed: 2021
The Dodgers secured Betts until the 2030s shortly after acquiring him in a trade from the Boston Red Sox. He’s had two top-five MVP finishes and a World Series win since then.
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 9 years, $360 million
Year signed: 2022
The Yankees ensured their 6-foot-7 MVP slugger will remain in pinstripes after he mashed an American League-record 62 homers while hitting .311/.425/.686 with an AL-leading 131 RBIs.
Francisco Lindor, New York Mets: 10 years, $341 million
Year signed: 2021
The Mets signed Lindor to this monster deal shortly before Opening Day 2021, and though he had a disappointing performance that season, he rebounded nicely in 2022 as the team won 101 games. Lindor hit a home run in the postseason, but the Mets fell to the Padres 2-1 in their National League wild-card series.
Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres: 14 years, $340 million
Year signed: 2021
Tatis had a huge season after signing his contract, hitting a league-leading 42 home runs and putting up 6.6 WAR in 2021. Injuries and a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs caused him to miss the entirety of the 2022 campaign, however.
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies: 13 years, $330 million
Year signed: 2019
Harper was on a mission in his move to Philadelphia, and so far it’s paid off pretty well for the Phillies. He won MVP in 2021 with a 1.079 OPS and helped lead the team to a surprise World Series appearance in 2022.
NFL (by practical guaranteed money)
Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns: 5 years, $230 million (100% of total contract)
Year signed: 2022
Watson’s contract is one of the largest in NFL history, but his tenure with the Browns has been marred by an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault, as defined by the league. He failed to score a touchdown in his first game of the season Dec. 4.
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: 5 years, $189.5 million (82.2% of total contract)
Year signed: 2022
While Murray has been playing well in the first year of his big extension, throwing for 2,359 yards at a 66.3% completion rate and tossing 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions, the Cardinals are 3-7 and long out of the playoff race.
Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos: 5 years, $161 million (66.4% of total contract)
Year signed: 2022
This might go down as one of the worst trades and contracts in NFL history if the first year of Wilson’s deal is any indicator. He’s barely completing 60% of his passes, he’s only thrown eight touchdowns so far this season and the Broncos are 3-8.
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: 3 years, $150.8 million (100% of total contract)
Year signed: 2022
Rodgers’ deal makes him one of the highest paid athletes in the world on an annual basis. This year has been a struggle for the Packers, however — though Rodgers’ statistics are decent enough, the team is only 5-8.
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: 6 years, $150 million (58.1% of total contract)
Year signed: 2021
The Bills haven’t had a young quarterback like Allen in a very, very long time. He’s thrown for 7813 yards and 61 touchdowns over the past two years, with 1344 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground to go along with that.
NBA
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 5 years, $272 million
Year signed: 2022
The reigning MVP for the second year in a row, Jokic signed a max extension with the Nuggets that, as of late, is the largest contract in NBA history.
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards: 5 years, $251 million
Year signed: 2022
After declining an option to become a free agent, Beal signed a max contract to remain with the Wizards for the next five seasons. While the Wizards are struggling this season, Beal is averaging 24.1 points per game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 5 years, $228.2 million
Year signed: 2021
At the time, this was the largest contract in NBA history, but it was well worth it for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo led them to a title and was named Finals MVP in 2020-21. He’s only gotten better since then and is averaging over 30 points per game for the first time ever this season.
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns: 4 years, $224 million
Year signed: 2022
This season, Booker led the Suns to a franchise-record 18-game winning streak, finished at 64-18 and overcame an injury to lead the team to the Western Conference semifinals before losing to the Mavericks in seven games.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves: 4 years, $224 million
Year signed: 2022
Towns scored a Timberwolves-record 60 points last season while leading the team to their first playoff appearance in four seasons.
NHL
Shea Weber, Vegas Golden Knights: 14 years, $110 million
Year signed: 2012
This is a bit of an odd situation — despite a distinguished career and five years remaining on his lengthy contract, Weber has been plagued by injuries and hasn’t played since the 2020-21 season. It’s quite possible that he’ll never play in the NHL again.
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins: 12 years, $104.4 million
Year signed: 2013
Sid the Kid won’t be a free agent until his age-38 season, but he’s still producing for the Penguins. He was 10th in the league in points in 2021-22 and is comfortably inside the top 10 this season.
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers: 8 years, $100 million
Year signed: 2018
McDavid hasn’t led the Oilers to a Stanley Cup win yet, but he’s one of just two players to unanimously win the Hart Memorial Trophy, doing so in 2021. The other unanimous winner? Wayne Gretzky.
Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks: 8 years, $92 million
Year signed: 2019
One of the best defensemen in the league and a two-time Norris Trophy winner, Karlsson recently scored the first hat trick of his distinguished career.
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings: 8 years, $88 million
Year signed: 2019
A Norris Trophy winner, Doughty unfortunately missed most of the 2021-22 season with a wrist injury. Fortunately for the Kings, he’s back for 2022-23 and picked up right where he left off.
