Jordan Love

With training camp a few weeks away and the NFL in the midst of a rare quiet period, this is a good time to examine each team’s largest 2026 cap hit. This exercise will take a look at players who are still on their teams’ rosters. That disqualifies massive dead money hits for the likes of Kyler Murray (Cardinals) and Derek Carr (Saints) from this edition, which will focus on the NFC.

Matthew Stafford, QB, Rams ($48.27MM)

One of the league’s most productive quarterbacks throughout his 17-year career, Stafford finally won his first MVP last season. During his first 17-start season since 2021, Stafford guided the Rams to a 12-5 record while leading the league in yards (4,707) and touchdowns (46, against eight interceptions). He was also among the elite in passer rating (second; 109.2) and QBR (fourth; 71.2).

In the playoffs, despite Stafford’s 374-yard, three-TD effort in the conference title game, the Rams dropped a 31-27 nail-biter to the division rival Seahawks. Stafford briefly contemplated retirement afterward, but the 38-year-old is now under contract through 2027 after inking an extension in May.

Looking to take advantage of Stafford’s remaining years as a top-level QB, the Rams added reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and ex-Chiefs starting cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to an already loaded roster over the past few months. They also turned heads in using the 13th overall pick in the draft on a quarterback, Ty Simpson, but he is obviously not a threat to Stafford in the near term.

Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys ($43.51MM)

Prescott was not at his best in 2024, an eight-start season that ended in November with a major hamstring injury, but he returned to Pro Bowl form last year. Thanks in part to the acquisition of wide receiver George Pickens, Prescott led the league with 404 completions, threw for 4,552 yards and tossed 30 touchdowns (against 10 interceptions). Prescott put up a 99.5 passer rating, the 10th-best mark in the league, and ranked an even better fifth in QBR (70.2).

The Cowboys went a lackluster 7-9-1 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year, but Prescott and the offense did their part. A bottom-dwelling defense torpedoed the Cowboys’ chances of contending. Their prolific offense remains intact. If Dallas’ defensive additions pay dividends, Prescott & Co. could return to the playoffs in his age-32 season.

Baker Mayfield, QB, Buccaneers ($39.98MM)

Mayfield remained an above-average starter in 2025, his third year with the Buccaneers, but most of his numbers declined compared to the previous season. Neither the 31-year-old nor the offense as a whole functioned as well under coordinator Josh Grizzard as they did in 2024 under Liam Coen. In fairness to Mayfield and Grizzard, a rash of injuries along the offensive line and at the skill positions didn’t help matters. Those issues contributed to an 8-9 finish for Tampa Bay, which missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

The Buccaneers reacted by firing Grizzard and hiring Zac Robinson, who will be Mayfield’s fourth different OC in as many seasons with the club. Franchise institution/potential Hall of Fame receiver Mike Evans is also gone (to the 49ers).

Mayfield could follow Evans out the door in a year if he and the Bucs don’t hammer out a contract extension by next March. It has been a month since Mayfield told the media the sides had not made progress toward an agreement. However, there is mutual interest in getting something done before the Bucs open camp in late July, Mayfield’s self-imposed deadline. Unless he adjusts the deadline, the team has a little over three weeks to lock up its two-time Pro Bowl passer.

Sam Darnold, QB, Seahawks ($37.9MM)

The Vikings erred in allowing Darnold to leave for Seattle in 2025, when he scored a three-year, $100MM contract in free agency. All Darnold did in the first season of the contract was help the Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship. Darnold posted a 14-3 record for the second straight regular season, in which he completed a career-high 67.7% of attempts, went over the 4,000-yard mark and fired 25 touchdown passes. While he threw 14 INTs in the regular season, he didn’t add to the total in three playoff games, including a Super Bowl LX win over the Patriots.

Darnold was at his best in the aforementioned NFC title game win over the Rams, whom he torched for 346 yards and three TDs. While the Rams are now the betting favorites to win it all this season, Darnold and the reigning champion Seahawks shouldn’t be discounted.

Jared Goff, QB, Lions ($37.6MM)

The Lions’ win total plummeted from 15 in 2024 to nine last year. The six-victory decline led to the Lions missing the playoffs for the first time since 2022, but Goff remained among the game’s most prolific signal-callers. He threw for 4,564 yards and 34 touchdowns, trailing only Stafford (whom he was traded for in 2021) in those categories. Goff also tossed just eight interceptions on 578 attempts and ranked near the top of the league in passer rating (second; 105.5), completion percentage (fifth; 68%), and yards per attempt (sixth; 7.9).

Notably, this will be the third year in a row in which Goff will pair with a different play caller. After Ben Johnson left to become the Bears’ head coach in 2025, the Lions hired John Morton. The decision didn’t go according to plan, as head coach Dan Campbell took Morton’s play-calling duties away during the season and then fired him when it ended. Campbell replaced Morton with Drew Petzing, previously the Cardinals’ OC. Petzing walked into an enviable situation with Goff, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, and tight end Sam LaPorta as weapons.

Jalen Hurts, QB, Eagles ($31.97MM)

Hurts took home Super Bowl LIX honors after the Eagles thrashed the Chiefs in February 2025, but the honeymoon didn’t last long. While the Eagles won 11 games and a second consecutive NFC East title, their offense markedly declined under new coordinator Kevin Patullo. With 33 total touchdowns, six interceptions and a 98.5 passer rating, Hurts put up nice numbers en route to a third Pro Bowl nod. But as the leader of the league’s 23rd-ranked passing offense, he was a source of frustration both in the building and among the team’s fans.

Worsening matters, the Eagles’ offense showed little life in a 23-19 loss to the 49ers in the wild-card round. That proved to be the last game as an Eagle for star receiver A.J. Brown, who voiced his dissatisfaction with the offense multiple times throughout the year. After a long-awaited trade with the Patriots came together on June 1, Brown revealed that he and Hurts drifted apart during the season.

Patullo and Brown are out of the organization, meaning Hurts will go into 2026 with another new OC in Sean Mannion and a few new pass catchers (first-rounder Makai Lemon, second-rounder Eli Stowers, Dontayvion Wicks and Marquise Brown) to complement holdovers DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. This will be a crucial season for Hurts, whose five-year, $255MM contract is due to expire after 2027. The Eagles could open talks on an extension next offseason if Hurts performs to their liking in his age-28 campaign.

Jordan Love, QB, Packers ($31.6MM)

It became more obvious last season that the Packers found their third straight franchise QB in Love, who has been up to the mountainous task of following Brett Favre (1992-2007) and Aaron Rodgers (2008-22). Over 15 regular-season starts, Love threw 23 touchdowns against a meager six interceptions. He was also comfortably in the league’s top 10 in QBR (third; 72.7) passer rating (sixth; 101.2) and yards per attempt (eighth; 7.7).

Despite the positives Love showed in his third year as a starter, Green Bay’s season ended in bitter fashion. Not only did the Packers drop their last four regular-season games to finish 9-7-1, but they blew a 21-3 halftime lead in a 31-27 wild-card round loss to the archrival Bears. The defeat came in spite of Love’s 323-yard, four-TD showing.

Daron Payne, DT, Commanders ($27.95MM)

The 6-foot-3, 320-pound Payne has been a full-time starter in seven of eight seasons since the Commanders drafted him 13th overall in 2018. Payne racked up a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2022, his lone Pro Bowl season, and the Commanders kept him around with a four-year, $90MM offer a few months later. Payne is now entering the last year of the pact, but the Commanders do not plan to pursue a new deal until 2027 (if at all). Over 15 starts in 2025, Payne notched 46 tackles, eight QB hits, seven TFL, five pass deflections and three sacks. The 29-year-old came in fifth in run stop win rate, but the defense still surrendered the third-most rushing yards in the league.

Chris Lindstrom, RG, Falcons ($26.25MM)

The durable and dependable Lindstrom has started in all 105 appearances since the Falcons made him the 14th pick in the 2019 draft. In 2023, with Lindstrom then coming off his first Pro Bowl/second-team All-Pro season, former Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot gave him a five-year, $105MM extension. Money well spent, as Lindstrom has since put up three more Pro Bowl/second-team All-Pro campaigns. The 6-4, 310-pounder made his second straight 17-start season in 2025 and finished as Pro Football Focus’ second-ranked guard.

Montez Sweat, DE, Bears ($25.09MM)

The Bears won the NFC North last season despite a below-average pass rush that finished 26th in sacks and 31st in win rate. You can’t blame the Bears’ ineffective rush on Sweat, who easily led the team in pressures (54), QB hits (18) and sacks (10) over a full 17-game schedule. The Bears, who have not made any noteworthy pass-rushing additions since the Rams eliminated them in the divisional round, will count on similar production from Montez in 2026. It will be his age-30 campaign and the second-last season of a four-year, $98MM contract.

Robert Hunt, RG, Panthers ($24.3MM)

Hunt made the Pro Bowl in 2024, the beginning of a five-year, $100MM contract, but an MCL injury wiped out most of his 2025 campaign. He went down in Week 2, landed on IR, and did not return until the postseason. Hunt ended up playing 76% of the Panthers’ offensive snaps in a loss to the Rams in the wild-card round. Now heading into his age-30 season, a healthy Hunt will continue as the Panthers’ No. 1 right guard.

Paulson Adebo, CB, Giants ($24.2MM)

Adebo missed 10 games with a broken femur in 2024, his fourth and final season with the Saints, but that didn’t stop the Giants from giving him a three-year, $54MM deal in free agency. The first season of the contract didn’t go great for Adebo, who sat out five games with a knee injury. Across 12 starts, Adebo tallied 73 tackles, eight passes defensed and an interception. On 80 targets, he yielded a 98.2 passer rating (up from 70.8 the previous year). PFF ranked Adebo a below-average 72nd among 108 qualifiers at his position, though he remains atop the Giants’ depth chart going into Year 2 of his contract. Either Greg Newsome, Deonte Banks or Colton Hood will start on the other side.

Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers ($23.71MM)

This is an eminently reasonable cap hit for a healthy Purdy, who has defied the odds and excelled since he entered the NFL as Mr. Irrelevant (the last pick in the draft) in 2022. San Francisco committed to Purdy on a five-year, $265MM extension in May 2025, but turf toe limited him to nine starts last season.

Despite a rash of injuries to Purdy and other key players, the 49ers still went 12-5 and clinched a playoff berth. Purdy & Co. got a wild-card road win over Philly, but the Seahawks knocked the 49ers out a week later with a 41-6 rout in the divisional round. If Purdy and the 49ers stay relatively healthy this season, they should be legitimate championship contenders.

Brian O’Neill, RT, Vikings ($23.16MM)

The reliable O’Neill has been a full-time starter and a career-long Viking since they took him in the second round of the 2018 draft. Now a two-time Pro Bowler and the longest-tenured Viking, O’Neill is on track to play the final season of his five-year, $92MM contract in 2026. However, the soon-to-be 31-year-old has made it clear he wants to sign a second extension in Minnesota. Given the Vikings’ mutual interest, there is a good chance the sides will work something out this summer. The bigger question may be whether O’Neill will block for newly acquired quarterback Kyler Murray or holdover J.J. McCarthy. Murray and McCarthy will continue to compete for the starting job in the next couple of months.

Budda Baker, S, Cardinals ($19.22MM)

A Cardinal since he came into the league as a second-rounder in 2017, Baker is under contract through 2028 on a three-year, $54MM extension. While his team is expected to contend for the league’s worst record and the No. 1 overall pick, Baker will vie for his eighth straight Pro Bowl and ninth overall. Last season was a mixed bag despite the Pro Bowl selection. The versatile Baker made 16 starts and recorded decent counting starts (120 tackles, five passes defensed and an interception), but PFF rated him a lowly 79th among 84 safeties.

Chris Olave, WR, Saints ($15.49MM)

Olave bounced back from a concussion-marred 2024 to catch 100 passes for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns over 16 games in 2025. All of those numbers represent career highs for the four-year veteran, who earned a second-team All-Pro nod. Although Olave has been recovering from a blood clot, he is optimistic the Saints will extend him this summer. If not, Olave will play the season on his fifth-year option. The Saints drafted a new No. 2 receiver, first-rounder Jordyn Tyson, to team with Olave and second-year quarterback Tyler Shough.

Information from Over the Cap was used in the creation of this post.