Correa's joins biggest active contracts in MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL

ByESPN.com ESPN logo
Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Carlos Correa is joining Aaron Judge on the list of the biggest active contracts in baseball ... and beyond.

Just with a little less than he thought he was getting. Correa had originally agreed to terms on a 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, but moved on from the deal in a stunning reversal. Correa has agreed on a 12-year, $315 million contract with the New York Mets.

Correa's deal, while big, is still more than $100 million short of the MLB record. Here's how the contract stacks up with others throughout sports.

MLB

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels: 12 years, $426.5 million

Year signed: 2019

Trout has been either the best player in baseball or close to it for the better part of a decade, and the Angels rewarded him accordingly. At the time he signed this deal, it was the richest contract in professional American sports. Though he's been hampered by injuries, he's put up 17.8 WAR in 342 games and won the 2019 MVP since the signing.

Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers: 12 years, $365 million

Year signed: 2021

The Dodgers secured Betts until the 2030s shortly after acquiring him in a trade from the Boston Red Sox. He's had 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 ensured their 6-foot-7 MVP slugger will remain in pinstripes after he mashed an American League-record 62 homers while hitting .311/.425/.686 with an AL-leading 131 RBIs.

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 though he had a disappointing performance that season, he rebounded nicely in 2022 as the team won 101 games. Lindor hit a home run in the postseason, but the Mets fell to the Padres 2-1 in their National League wild-card series.

Carlos Correa, New York Mets:12-year, $315 million

Year signed: 2022

Correa signed a long-term deal with the Mets after the deal with the Giants fell apart over a "difference of opinion" concerning Correa's physical, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said in a statement. This year's free agent market rewarded him after he hit .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBIs in 136 games.

Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres: 14 years, $340 million

Year signed: 2021

Tatis had a huge season after signing his contract, hitting a league-leading 42 home runs and putting up 6.6 WAR in 2021. Injuries and a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs caused him to miss the entirety of the 2022 campaign, however.

NFL (by practical guaranteed money)

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 marred by an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault, as defined by the league. He failed to score a touchdown in his first game of the season Dec. 4.

Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: 5 years, $189.5 million (82.2% of total contract)

Year signed: 2022

While Murray played well in the first year of his big extension, throwing for 2,368 yards at a 66.4% completion rate and tossing 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions, the Cardinals are 4-9 and long out of the 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 might go down as one of the worst trades and contracts in NFL history if the first year of Wilson's deal is any indicator. He's barely completing 60% of his passes, he's only thrown 11 touchdowns so far this season and the Broncos are eliminated from contention at 3-10.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: 3 years, $150.8 million (100% of total contract)

Year signed: 2022

Rodgers' deal makes him one of the highest paid athletes in the world on an annual basis. This year has been a struggle for the Packers, however -- though Rodgers' statistics are decent enough, the 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 very, very long time. He's thrown for 7813 yards and 61 touchdowns over the past two years, with 1344 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground to go along with that.

NBA

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 5 years, $272 million

Year signed: 2022

The reigning MVP for the second year in a row, Jokic signed a max extension with the Nuggets that, as of late, is the largest contract in NBA history.

Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards: 5 years, $251 million

Year signed: 2022

After declining an option to become a free agent, Beal signed a max contract to remain with the Wizards for the next five seasons. While the Wizards are struggling 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 well worth it for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo led them to a title and was named Finals MVP in 2020-21. He's only gotten better since then and is averaging over 30 points per game for the first time ever this season.

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns: 4 years, $224 million

Year signed: 2022

This season, Booker led the Suns to a franchise-record 18-game winning streak, finished at 64-18 and overcame an 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 a 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

This is a bit of an odd situation -- despite a distinguished career and five years remaining on his lengthy contract, Weber has been plagued by injuries and hasn't played since the 2020-21 season. It's quite possible that he'll never play in the NHL again.

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins: 12 years, $104.4 million

Year signed: 2013

Sid the Kid won't be a free agent until his age-38 season, but he's still producing for the Penguins. He was 10th in the league in points in 2021-22 and is comfortably inside the top 10 this season.

Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers: 8years, $100 million

Year signed: 2018

McDavid hasn't led the Oilers to a Stanley Cup win yet, but he's one of just two players to unanimously win the Hart Memorial Trophy, doing so in 2021. The other unanimous winner? Wayne Gretzky.

Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks: 8 years, $92 million

Year signed: 2019

One of the best defensemen in the league and a two-time Norris Trophy winner, Karlsson recently scored the first hat trick of his distinguished career.

Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings: 8 years, $88 million

Year signed: 2019

A Norris Trophy winner, Doughty unfortunately missed most of the 2021-22 season with a wrist injury. Fortunately for the Kings, he's back for 2022-23 and picked up right where he left off.