- RED GRANGE
That can't be said of today's game, as the $9.5 billion a year behemoth that is the NFL dwarfs the next largest American sports league (MLB) by 25% and pays its quarterbacks an average $3,840,017, and even its kickers average $1,662,786 (the most under-appreciated position appears to be tight end, with an average salary of $1,420,890).
Some teams spend a lot more than others. Not surprisingly, the Cowboy's billionaire owner Jerry Jones has the 1st and 5th highest paid linebackers (Ware, Spencer), the highest paid tight end (Witten), and the overall fifth highest paid player in the NFL (Romo). The Broncos have three of the top 25 salaries in the NFL (Bailey, Manning, Dumervil). Player pay, however makes up less than 48% of total revenue. How does the rest of the spending affect on-the-field performance? Some teams have been very successful financially without being competitive.
For this week's big list, I decided to look at how NFL teams are using their revenue, based on how much each team is spending (these numbers fluctuate constantly, so my calculations are based on what they were on the day I pulled the data) compared to how much each team is winning. I compared the most recent spending data to the number of wins each team had in 2012. I have ranked the five WORST managers of money in the NFL and the five BEST, based on how much overall cash spending each team incurs annually divided by the number of games that said teams won last year ($PW).
THE MONEY BURNERS
Doing the FIFTH worst job (in terms of dollars spent for each win) it's the Oakland Raiders. Oakland spent an estimated $78,611,196 and only managed 4 wins in 2012.Apparently the world's most subtle logo design changes cost more than we think. Maybe the organization is struggling to keep up with the costs associated with a manager who wears more than starter jackets. As long as the Raiders are throwing cash out the window, they could establish a fund to fix Mark Davis's hair.It could be that the Raiders all putting the right money in all the wrong places. The constantly injured Darren McFadden has the league's third-highest salary for his position (which is more than Oakland's fleet of quarterbacks makes combined.). High dollar players don't translate to wins if they're not on the field.
COST PER WIN: $19,652,799
The FOURTH highest offender on the listThe Eagles franchise spent almost $29 million more than the Raiders last season to end with the same abysmal record of 4 wins.
Head coach Andy Reid's $5.5 million annual salary made him the 10th highest paid coach last year, not in the NFL... in all sports, period! This was obviously to compensate him not just for coaching duties, but for effectively functioning as the team's general manager as the executive VP of football operations. The poor money-to-wins ratio may have played a part in his eventual firing last season after 13 years with the team.
COST PER WIN: $26,881,461
The THIRD highest offender on the list is the Detroit Lions. Calvin Johnson and Cliff Avril are both making over $10M annually, and with only 4 wins on the season for the Lions, Johnson made almost $2,882,986 PER WIN all by himself. Suh, Stafford, and Williams round out the top five paychecks, none of which drops below $5.5M.No one knows exactly what Miz lookalike/Head Coach Jim Schwartz is making, but with his likely $3M or more a year with a three year extension seems barely justifiable at this point. Then again, losing is a tradition in Detroit, and the fans keep coming anyways.
COST PER WIN: $34,017,263
The RUNNER-UP highest offender on the list is a young franchise, the Jacksonville Jaguars. The funny thing about the Jaguars franchise is, they spend less than just about any other team in the league (sometimes the Jags and Raiders trade places on the bottom of this list, like Pluto and Neptune) while managing the league's 9th highest payroll.This team is poised to jump to the top of the list if it could only get some wins under its belt, which is the reason the Jaguar's front office has been shaken and stirred this year with at least four executive changes including a new GM. But will changes in the office (apparently a low cost, efficient office) translate to wins on the field?
COST PER WIN: $38,635,828
And at the very bottom, the WORST offender on the list is the Kansas City Chiefs.You might remember Kansas City's new head coach from a team earlier on this list, because it's the former Eagles VP, Andy Reid. If his recent team management is any sign of the Chief's future, you can expect them to only be the fourth worst $PW team in the NFL next year.As an interesting note, apparently when the Chiefs first came about (see old logo to left), they were intended to be the team of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Ohio, not just the Kansas City states. Should I let an old logo dictate my loyalties?
COST PER WIN: $66,652,688
HONORABLE MENTION
Additionally, if you combine the cost per win of these two teams plus the next top five teams, the number is still LESS than the total Kansas City spent last season for each of its wins.
PATS COST PER WIN: $9,041,058
BRONCS COST PER WIN: $8,922,098
THE WIN EARNERS
The 49er's deep run in the postseason is the only reason they make this list, as regular season wins would have placed them in 14th. But postseason wins are what fans live for! The 49ers managed to total 13 wins in 2012-2013 and reached the Super Bowl while spending only $114,699,136!
COST PER WIN: $8,823,010
Fighting for a position at the top of the moneyball game, it's the Baltimore Ravens in FOURTH place. Last year, the Ravens benefited from an underpaid QB and mustache aficionado, Joe Flacco, now worth over $20M a year to the Balitmore franchise. This increase in pay, however, doesn't do much damage to the Ravens' bottom line... as long as they have an amazing season and a Super Bowl win next year.The Ravens managed 14 total wins during the 2012-2013 NFL season/postseason - tying the highest number of wins for any NFL team that year, all with a cash spending level of $123,328,876.
COST PER WIN: $8,809,205
The claimant of the THIRD best ratio of loot-to-laurels in the NFL last year was the Washington Redskins. The anachronistic Redskins' dual-threat quarterback helped lead the team to 10 wins last season with total cash spending by the organization at $86,673,752, the third lowest in the league.The wins can't be credited wholly to RGIII's formidable throwing and running - there's a reason that with a $7M annual salary, Mike Shanahan is the second-highest paid head coach in ALL OF SPORTS - he's there to return the team to greatness.
COST PER WIN: $8,667,375
The RUNNER-UP franchise, with the second best cash to wins ratio in the league is the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons stellar regular season (and a single post season win) helped them tie the Baltimore Ravens for the most total wins with 14, while spending a middle-of-the-pack $108,678,618 as a franchise. This was after a preseason that saw their only win come against the Dolphins. QB Matt Ryan was the league's 5th highest rated passer while White, Jones, and Gonzalez took the 9th, 11th, and 26th top receiving spots. The Falcons defense also allowed the 9th least YPG in the regular season.
COST PER WIN: $7,762,758
The BEST MANAGER OF MONEY is the Houston Texans football franchise. (I realize the throwback logo to right is technically a precursor to the Tennessee Titans, but the Oilers used to play in Houston... where there's OIL).
Houston was the team with the sixth lowest cash outflow in 2012 but the sixth highest number of games won, spending a total of (only) $90,544,416 for its 13 wins. The Texans obviously made the best of their $20M offensive duo of 9th ranked passer Schaub and 6th ranked rusher Foster. Money spent on Defense was well worth the cost as the Texans ranked 3rd in the NFL in YPG, with the top ten paid defensive players raking in $38,353,992.
COST PER WIN: $6,964,955
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