BetUS Sportsbook look at the most
underpaid players in the NFL.
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NFL betting with any
sportsbook relies on an intimate knowledge
of a team, betting trends and individual player
stats. Here is a BetUS Sportsbook look at some
of the key impact players – who
are steals for their teams.
They’re almost always the top scorers
on their football teams. And while they might
not be treated with the same disdain they were
even five years ago, most NFL place-kickers are
lucky they’re not getting paid in food
stamps. But the market has been set: Top kickers
made anywhere between $1 million and $1.8 million
in 2006.
Earning a fair wage
for labor produced is even harder for those “non-skill” positions
where there are no statistics to back up the
players. Even that is changing, though, with
premium offensive linemen like Minnesota’s
Steve Hutchinson signing big eight-figure contracts – albeit
with little guaranteed money at stake.
So when it comes to
finding the NFL’s
biggest bargains, let’s rely on our handicapper’s
sense of “value” and find the top
producers by scouring the advanced metrics compiled
by Football Outsiders at the four key “skill” positions.
Those who do the most for the least are featured
below.
QB: Tony Romo ($1 million in 2007, plus a $500,000
playing incentive)
Romo burst on the
scene last year under the watchful eye of Bill
Parcells, posting a Defense-adjusted Points
Above Replacement (DPAR) rating of 51.3 in
passing situations – 10th in the league – and
going to the Pro Bowl in his first full NFL season.
Quarterbacks who prove themselves at this level
usually get snapped up with lucrative contract
extensions, but Romo will be 28 in 2008; he spent
three years on the Dallas sidelines after going
undrafted out of Division I-AA Eastern Illinois.
The Cowboys are taking a wait-and-see approach
on Romo before investing.
RB: Joseph Addai ($1.22 million)
Addai’s already done it all: a BCS title
with LSU in 2003, and a Super Bowl with the Colts
in 2006. But Addai will have to be patient before
he earns the really big bucks. Stud rookies are
usually the biggest bargains of them all, thanks
to the NFL’s salary cap on first-year players.
Addai inked a five-year, $11.65-million contract
with Indianapolis coming out of the draft – but
at least it has nearly $5 million in guaranteed
cash. A steal of a deal for the No. 5-ranked
RB in the NFL in both rushing (36.1 DPAR) and
passing (10.4 DPAR) situations last year.
WR: Lee Evans ($773,750)
Coming out of Wisconsin
in 2004, Evans also signed on the cheap for
five years after the Bills drafted him in the
first round. His deal included more guaranteed
money than Addai’s – over
$7 million. But he may be an even bigger bargain
at his position. Evans finished third among wideouts
in DPAR at 34.4, just behind the amazing Colts
duo of Reggie Wayne (46.0) and Marvin Harrison
(44.3). Evans isn’t a free agent until
2010, when he’ll be 29. Now you know why
these guys are always staging holdouts.
TE: Tony Gonzalez ($1 million)
You read that correctly:
the Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs.
This is a bit tricky, though. Gonzalez is actually
the highest paid tight end in the NFL; at the
end of the 2006 season, the eight-time Pro
Bowler signed a five-year deal with Kansas
City that included nearly $18 million in guaranteed
money. But it’s another
one of those heavily backloaded deals: Gonzalez
is officially making just $1 million this year
and another $1 million in 2008. The California
native has gone on record with his plans to play
three more seasons, so the last two years and
$10.25 million of that contract probably won’t
see the light of day. All in all, pretty inexpensive
for someone who led all tight ends last year
with a 30.8 DPAR. And, yes, Gonzalez can block.
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Posted on 9/10/2007 8:09:35 PM
The Most Underpaid NFL players
By BetUS Staff
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