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On Thursday, ESPN’s Darren Rovell released his list of the 20 worst dead money deals in sports history. And a few of the men on the list have ties to the SEC.
At the top of the list is former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. In 2005, seven games into his first year with the Fighting Irish, Weis received a contract extension through 2015. Four years later, after posting a 35-27 record and having only three winning seasons in five years, Weis was fired. Notre Dame has not disclosed how much it paid Weis after firing him, but public filings show that the school had paid $14.8 million in buyout money through 2013, and if the payments remained the same through the end of the deal, Weis would have ended up with a $19 million buyout. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Weis later became Kansas’ head coach, and after the Jayhawks fired him last year, he got $5.63 million more in buyout money.
In between Weis’ two head coaching stints, he was the offensive coordinator at Florida, where he coached under Will Muschamp, who was No. 9 on the list.
Muschamp coached the Gators for four years, going 28-21 and winning more than seven games only once. He was fired near the end of the 2014 season, and it cost Florida $6 million to sever ties with him. He is now the defensive coordinator at Auburn, where he is the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the SEC. Auburn is paying him $2.1 million this year, while he’s also collecting severance pay from Florida.
Former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini also made the list. Pelini was Nebraska’s head coach from 2008-14, going 66-27. He also went 1-0 as the team’s interim coach in 2003. When the school fired Pelini as its head coach in 2014, it wound up having to pay him a $6.5 million buyout.
Another name with SEC ties on the list is former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who makes the list at No. 20. Russell was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders after throwing for 3,129 yards and 28 touchdowns in his final season at LSU. He was a major disappointment with the Raiders, lasting just three seasons and never throwing for more than 2,423 yards or having more than 15 touchdown passes in a season. He started 25 games for the Raiders, and Oakland won just seven of them. Russell was released in May 2010. In 2013, the Raiders paid him $3 million to settle a salary dispute, on top of the $36.4 million he earned while playing for them.
Here is the complete list of the 20 worst dead money deals in sports history:
- Charlie Weis – Weis collected an estimated $19 million after being fired as Notre Dame’s coach in 2009.
- Josh Hamilton – The Los Angeles Angels agreed to pay $68 million of Hamilton’s remaining salary after trading the outfielder (who’d had a substance abuse relapse in the offseason) to the Texas Rangers in April.
- Gilbert Arenas – The Orlando Magic cut the point guard in 2011, but still had to pay him $62 million from a six-year, $111 million deal he had signed with the Washington Wizards in 2009.
- Rick DiPietro – In 2013, the New York Islanders used a compliance buyout provision to sever ties with their former goalie after he’d had four surgeries and multiple concussions. It cost them $24 million.
- Jason Bay – The New York Mets released the former All-Star outfielder in 2013, but they still had to pay him $21 million in salary and buyouts.
- Vincent Lecavalier – In 2013, the Tampa Bay Lightning gave the center a compliance buyout that cost the team $32.7 million.
- Jerome Williams – In 2005, the NBA allowed teams a one-time amnesty, enabling them to cut a player without taking a salary cap hit. The New York Knicks took advantage of it, released the forward and avoided taking a $21.3 million salary cap hit. But the Knicks still had to pay him the $21.3 million.
- Josh Smith – In December 2014, the Detroit Pistons released Smith. But they still owed him $36 million in salary.
- Will Muschamp – When Florida fired its head coach in 2014, it had to pay him a $6 million buyout.
- Michael Finley – Like the Knicks did with Jerome Williams, the Dallas Mavericks took advantage of the NBA’s one-time amnesty offer in 2005. They waived Finley, to whom they owed $51.8 million over the next three years. They avoided the salary cap hit, but still had to pay him the $51.8 million.
- Junior Galette, New Orleans Saints – The Saints released Galette after the defensive end was arrested for battery with domestic violence in 2014. But it cost them $17.55 million in cap space.
- Manny Ramirez – The Los Angeles Dodgers traded the outfielder to the Chicago White Sox during the 2010 season, but still had to pay $25 million of his remaining salary.
- Denny Crum – When Louisville decided it was time for Crum to end his 30-year tenure as its men’s basketball coach in 2001, it had to pay him $2 million in salary and bonuses and give him a $5 million consulting contract to run the Denny Crum Scholarship Foundation.
- Alexei Yashin – In 2006, the New York Islanders gave the center a compliance buyout that cost the team $17.6 million.
- Gary Matthews Jr. – When the Los Angeles Angels traded the outfielder to the New York Mets after the 2009 season, they agreed to pay $21.5 million of his remaining salary.
- Bo Pelini – When Nebraska fired Pelini as its head coach in 2014, it wound up having to pay him a $6.5 million buyout.
- Deron Williams – The Brooklyn Nets bought out their former point guard for $27.5 million last year.
- Prince Fielder – When the Detroit Tigers traded the first baseman to the Texas Rangers in 2014, they agreed to pay $30 million of his remaining salary.
- Bobby Bonilla – In 1999, the New York Mets made a strange buyout deal with their former outfielder. Instead of paying him the $5.9 million they owed him in 1999, they agreed to pay him 25 annual payments of $1.19 million from 2011 to 2035. That means that Bonilla will end up collecting $29.8 million from the team, instead of $5.9 million.
- JaMarcus Russell – In 2013, Russell believed the Oakland Raiders owed him money. The Raiders believed he owed them money. They wound up negotiating a deal, and Russell collected $3 million.
