Carlos Correa joins Aaron Judge on the roster of the largest active contracts in baseball…and beyond.
Correa’s 13-year, $350 million contract is the third largest in baseball after Judge, who would earn $360 million over nine years in one of the largest contracts in MLB history. Both players come from great years — Hakim smashed the American League home run record and won the MVP, and Correa did his usual outstanding job at shortstop.
Where are their hauls among the largest in America’s four major men’s sports? Here’s the list.
MLB
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels: 12 years, $426.5 million
Year signed: 2019
Trout has been the best player in baseball or close to it for more than a decade, and the Angels rewarded him accordingly. At the time he signed this deal, it was the richest contract in American professional sports. Although he’s been hampered by injuries, he’s put up 17.8 WARs in 342 games and won the 2019 MVP since signing.
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers: 12 years, $365 million
Year signed: 2021
The Dodgers secured Betts into the 2030s shortly after acquiring him in a trade from the Boston Red Sox. He has 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 confirmed their 6-foot-7 MVP slugger will stay in the pinstripes after he amassed an American League record 62 homers while hitting .311/.425/.686 with an AL-leading 131 RBI.
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 although he had a disappointing showing that season, he recovered well in 2022 as the team won 101 games. Lindor hit home runs in the postseason, but the Mets lost to the Padres 2-1 in their National League wild card series.
Carlos Correa, San Francisco Giants: 13 years, $350 million
Year signed: 2022
Correa signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Twins after leaving the Houston Astros in free agency. This year’s free agent market rewarded him after he hit .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI in 136 games.
Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres: 14 years old, $340 million
Year signed: 2021
Tatis had a stellar season after signing his contract, hitting a league-leading 42 home runs and hitting a 6.6 WAR in 2021. However, injury and suspension of performance-enhancing drugs caused him to miss the entire 2022 campaign.
NFL (on practical bail)
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 undermined by an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy by engaging in sexual harassment, as determined by the league. He missed a touchdown in his first game of the season on December 4.
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: 5 years, $189.5 million (82.2% of total contract)
Year signed: 2022
While Murray played well in his first year of major extension, throwing for 2,368 yards with a 66.4% completion rate and throwing 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions, the Cardinals were 4-9 and away from a playoff race – and that was before he tore his ACL.
Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos: 5 years, $161 million (66.4% of total contract)
Year signed: 2022
This may go down as one of the worst trades and contracts in NFL history if the first year of the Wilson deal is any indicator. He’s nearly completed 60% of his passes, he’s only had 11 touchdowns so far this season and the Broncos were knocked out of contention by a score of 3-10.
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: 3 years, $150.8 million (100% of total contract)
Year signed: 2022
The Rodgers deal makes him one of the highest paid athletes in the world every year. This year has been a struggle for the Packers, however – despite Rodgers’ good stats, his 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 long time. He threw for 7813 yards and 61 touchdowns over the last two years, with 1344 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground to follow that.
NBA
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 5 years, $272 million
Year signed: 2022
Reigning MVP for the second year in a row, Jokic signed a max extension with the Nuggets in what was, until recently, the largest contract in NBA history.
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards: 5 years, $251 million
Year signed: 2022
After declining the option to become a free agent, Beam signed a max contract to remain with the Wizards for the next five seasons. While the Wizards have struggled 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 invaluable to the Bucks. Antetokounmpo led them to the title and were named Finals MVP in 2020-21. He’s gotten better since then and is averaging over 30 points per game for the first time this season.
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns: 4 years, $224 million
Year signed: 2022
This season, Booker led the Suns on an 18-game winning streak, finishing at 64-18 and overcoming 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 the 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
It’s a slightly odd situation – despite a stellar career and five years remaining on his long contract, Weber has been plagued by injuries and hasn’t played since the 2020-21 season. It is very likely that he will never play in the NHL again.
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins: 12 years, $104.4 million
Year signed: 2013
Sid the Kid wouldn’t become a free agent until his 38th season, but he’s still producing for the Penguins. He is 10th in the league in points in 2021-22 and is comfortably inside the top 10 this season.
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers: 8 year, $100 million
Year signed: 2018
McDavid hasn’t led the Oilers to a Stanley Cup victory, but he’s one of only two players to win the Hart Memorial Trophy unanimously, doing so in 2021. Another unanimous winner? Wayne Gretzky.
Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks: 8 years, $92 million
Year signed: 2019
One of the best defenders in the league and a two-time Norris Cup winner, Karlsson recently scored the first hat-trick of his illustrious career.
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings: 8 years, $88 million
Year signed: 2019
Norris Trophy winner Doughty sadly missed most of the 2021-22 season with a wrist injury. Fortunately for the Kings, he returned for 2022-23 and continued right where he left off.
