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 focus on players who are still on their teams’ rosters. That disqualifies the likes of Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Tytus Howard (Texans). While those players are now elsewhere, they are still hammering their ex-teams’ books with significant dead money charges.
Let’s begin with a look at the AFC…
Justin Herbert, QB, Chargers ($46.35MM)
Herbert’s interception total climbed from three in 2024 to 13 last year, but one of the league’s worst offensive lines contributed to the increase in turnovers. The Chargers went the entire season without stud left tackle Rashawn Slater and most of it without excellent right tackle Joe Alt. Herbert took 54 sacks, the second-highest total in the game, behind a porous group of blockers. The 28-year-old still helped the Chargers to 11 wins and a playoff berth, but he and the offense flamed out in a 16-3 wild-card round loss to the Patriots.
The Chargers have since helped Herbert’s cause by replacing offensive coordinator Greg Roman with Mike McDaniel, snagging two quality tight ends (Charlie Kolar and David Njoku) to join Oronde Gadsden, and making interior O-line upgrades. Most importantly, Slater and Alt will be back. The arrow is pointing up for Herbert as he goes into the third season of a five-year, $262.5MM extension.
Chris Jones, DT, Chiefs ($44.85MM)
Patrick Mahomes‘ mega extension doesn’t kick in until 2027, leaving Jones atop the Chiefs’ cap hierarchy for another season. Jones, who is celebrating his 32nd birthday on Friday, continued to notch strong production during a shocking down year for the Chiefs. He racked up 25 QB hits, 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
While Pro Football Focus “only” ranked Jones’ overall performance 29th among 127 qualifying interior defensive linemen, he earned the site’s second-best pass-rushing grade at his position. Jones saw his three-year streak of first-team All-Pro selections end, but he made his seventh straight Pro Bowl in 2025.
Josh Allen, QB, Bills ($44.29MM)
Although he is about to enter his age-30 season with zero Super Bowl appearances, Allen remains on the shortlist of elite QBs. Frustrated with the franchise’s inability to capitalize on Allen’s presence, owner Terry Pegula fired longtime head coach Sean McDermott after an overtime loss to the Broncos in the divisional round. Allen played the first nine years of his career under McDermott. He is now playing for a familiar replacement in Joe Brady, who was Buffalo’s QBs coach from 2022-23 and the team’s offensive coordinator from 2024-25. Brady will continue to call the plays as a head coach.
The Bills’ Allen-led offense has never had issues scoring points with Brady at the controls. However, they will not get over the AFC hump and reach a Super Bowl unless their defense does a better job keeping points off the board in the postseason (if they get there). Allen has gone 8-7 in the playoffs despite a 101.5 passer rating, the fifth-best mark ever. The defense allowed a staggering 33.2 points per game in the Bills’ last six playoff defeats.
T.J. Watt, OLB, Steelers ($42MM)
The Steelers gave a nine-figure extension to backup outside linebacker Nick Herbig a month ago. In the immediate aftermath, there was speculation about the Steelers trading Watt ahead of his age-32 season. However, Watt (and fellow OLB Alex Highsmith) will stick around for at least another year.
At the height of his powers, Watt amassed 22.5 sacks en route to Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2021. He isn’t on that otherworldly level anymore, but Watt remains a defensive cornerstone. The eight-time Pro Bowler chipped in 19 QB hits, 10 TFL, eight pass deflections, seven sacks, three forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions in 14 games in 2025. He was PFF’s 31st-ranked edge defender among 119 qualifiers.
Deshaun Watson, QB, Browns ($40.96MM)
This is the only real albatross cap hit on the list. The Browns have been stuck with Watson since they astonishingly traded three first-round picks to the Texans in 2022 and then gave him a fully guaranteed $230MM extension. While Watson was a three-time Pro Bowler at the time, he also sat out the previous season amid a contract dispute and dozens of sexual assault allegations. Watson’s off-field conduct led to an 11-game suspension, which he served at the beginning of what has been a disastrous Browns tenure.
He made 19 forgettable starts before rupturing his Achilles in October 2024. He ruptured it again while rehabbing in January 2025. Watson missed all of last season, but to the chagrin of Browns fans, he is returning as the front-runner to win the starting job over Shedeur Sanders. Although this is the last season of Watson’s ill-fated contract, he will remain on the Browns’ books until 2029.
Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals ($37.6MM)
Burrow has ranked among the sport’s top passers throughout his six-year career, but injuries have held him out of sizable portions of three seasons. Most recently, a toe injury sidelined him for nine games last year. The Bengals went 1-8 without Burrow, 6-11 overall, and missed the playoffs for the third year in a row. The team is a popular pick to rebound in 2026 as long as the 29-year-old Burrow stays healthy. It’s easy to see why. To complement the superb offensive core of Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown, the club has made multiple splashes to upgrade what was one of the league’s worst defenses in 2025. Defensive tackles Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen, edge rushers Boye Mafe and Cashius Howell, and safety Bryan Cook are now in the fold.
Burrow is excited to get some much-needed help on the other side of the ball. “I think this is the most talented roster that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Burrow declared in May.
Maxx Crosby, DE, Raiders ($35.79MM)
Crosby remains the Raiders’ largest cap charge, though they came very close to cutting ties with him in March. They agreed to trade the five-time Pro Bowler to the Ravens for two first-round picks, but it collapsed when Crosby failed the Ravens’ physical. At that point, Crosby was just two months into his recovery from surgery on a torn left meniscus. With Crosby further distancing himself from that procedure, teams have continued to show interest in acquiring him. As of now, though, he remains on track to open his age-29 season donning the Silver and Black.
Despite playing through knee problems last year, Crosby remained a force. He piled up 73 tackles, 28 TFL, 20 QB hits, 10 sacks, six pass deflections, two forced fumbles and a pick in 15 games. If Crosby continues looking like his usual self in September and October, he will likely be popular in trade rumors leading up to the Nov. 3 deadline.
Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens ($34.9MM)
Jackson didn’t quite look like his two-time MVP-winning self during a truncated 2025. The all-world dual threat entered the season with an eye-popping 70-24 record as a starter, but he went just 6-7 last year while battling knee, ankle, toe and back injuries. After going 8-9 and narrowly missing the playoffs, the Ravens fired long-tenured head coach John Harbaugh. Jackson played the first eight years of his career under Harbaugh, whom the Ravens replaced with defensive guru Jesse Minter.
If healthy, there is little doubt Jackson will rebound and lead a talented Baltimore roster back to contention. The main question is whether the Ravens and Jackson will eventually work out an extension. Both sides seem optimistic it will eventually happen, but with no agreement in place when the new league year opened in March, the Ravens restructured his current pact. While the move lowered Jackson’s cap hit by $15MM and created $40MM in spending space, it left the two parties without long-term security. As things stand, Jackson is only under wraps through 2027.
Milton Williams, DT, Patriots ($28.5MM)
In March 2025, a few weeks after winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles, Williams moved to New England on a four-year, $104MM payday with $63MM guaranteed. Williams and Christian Barmore comprised a formidable duo up front, though an ankle injury limited the former to 12 games in his first season with the Patriots. While tallying eight TFL, eight QB hits and 3.5 sacks, Williams helped the Pats to a stunning 14-3 regular-season record. The 290-pounder then added seven tackles and three sacks over four playoff games, including Williams’ second straight Super Bowl. He was denied another championship, though, as the Patriots were no match for the Seahawks in a 29-13 defeat.
DeForest Buckner, DT, Colts ($26.6MM)
A cavalcade of major injuries, including Buckner’s, led to the Colts’ downfall in 2025. After starting a white-hot 7-1, the injury-plagued club finished 8-9 and extended its playoff drought to a half-decade. Buckner missed seven games with a neck issue, depriving the Colts of one of their defensive linchpins. With the 32-year-old still in recovery as camp approaches, he is not a sure thing to take the field when the Colts kick off their season against the Ravens on Sept. 13. This much is clear: Indianapolis will have a much better chance of rebounding from last year’s Murphy’s Law second half if Buckner returns to full strength.
Dan Moore Jr., LT, Titans ($26.35MM)
While Moore has been a career-long starter since he entered the league as the Steelers’ fourth-round pick in 2021, the Titans turned heads when they handed him a four-year, $82MM deal with $50MM in guarantees in March 2025. Jones went on to start in all 16 of his appearances in his first Titans season, but he wasn’t particularly effective. PFF charged him with allowing eight sacks and taking seven penalties, and he ended the year as the site’s 57th-ranked tackle out of 78 qualifiers. Thanks in part to Moore’s struggles, QB Cam Ward took a league-high 55 sacks as a rookie. The Titans are counting on Ward, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick, to make a Year 2 leap. Better blindside protection would increase Ward’s chances of breaking out.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars ($24MM)
After going No. 1 overall in the 2021 draft, Lawrence put together an uneven first four seasons in the NFL. It would have been fair to regard the former Clemson star’s career as somewhat underwhelming at this time a year ago, but then Lawrence found a new gear under offensive-minded head coach Liam Coen.
With Coen in his first year on the job, the Jaguars stormed to a 13-4 record and won the AFC South. Lawrence bounced back from an injury-limited 2024 to start all 17 games. In the process, he eclipsed the 4,000-yard mark as a passer for the third time and set career highs in touchdowns (38; 29 passing, nine rushing) and rushing yards (359). The 26-year-old earned a fifth-place finish in the MVP race for his efforts.
Mike McGlinchey, RT, Broncos ($23.78)
The Broncos lured McGlinchey from the 49ers with a five-year, $87.5MM offer in March 2023. The investment has worked out well for Denver. McGlinchey missed four games in 2024, but he returned to start all 17 games last year and help the Broncos to 14 wins and the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Aside from quarterback Bo Nix, no Broncos offensive player logged more snaps than McGlinchey. The 6-foot-8, 315-pounder played the second-most snaps (1,127) among all offensive tackles, per PFF, which ranked his performance 18th among 84 qualifying bookends.
Danielle Hunter, EDGE, Texans ($16.41MM)
This is a steal of a cap hit for one of the league’s most dominant pass rushers, but it is due to climb when Hunter’s $40.1MM extension kicks in next year. In the meantime, Hunter and fellow pass rusher extraordinaire Will Anderson Jr. should continue menacing opposing offenses in 2026. Hunter will turn 32 in October, but there are absolutely no signs of decline.
He amassed 15 sacks in 2025, his fourth straight season in the double digits and seventh in his 10-year career. The 6-5, 263-pounder also registered 22 QB hits, 15 TFL and three forced fumbles en route to second-team All-Pro honors. Hunter was PFF’s fifth-rated edge defender, while Anderson came in first. The Hunter-Anderson duo is the envy of the AFC.
Brandon Stephens, CB, Jets ($13.97MM)
The Jets brought in the former Raven on a three-year, $36MM agreement in March 2025. Unfortunately for the Jets and Stephens, their defense sputtered through a horrid season. The unit inexplicably failed to intercept a single pass, which was the second straight year Stephens went without a pick. Stephens tallied 73 tackles and nine passes defensed in 16 starts, but on 85 targets against him, opposing QBs completed 71.8% of attempts and put up a lofty 134.3 passer rating. As alarming as that looks, PFF still ranked Stephens a respectable 35th among 106 corners.
The Jets have since hired Brian Duker as their D-coordinator, though head coach/former defensive back Aaron Glenn will call the plays. Perhaps Stephens will benefit from Glenn’s expertise. Regardless, the 28-year-old remains a surefire starter going into his second season in New York. It is TBD whether free agent pickup Nahshon Wright or Azareye’h Thomas will start on the other side.
Zach Sieler, DT, Dolphins ($11.42MM)
The Dolphins no longer employ Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, Jalen Ramsey or Minkah Fitzpatrick, leaving Sieler’s modest cap hit as the highest among their current players. Sieler is locked in on the three-year, $67.75MM extension he inked last August. Miami is now in the early stages of a full-blown rebuild under a new regime, but the 30-year-old has made it clear he wants to be a Dolphin for the rest of his career.
As for his recent work, Sieler entered last season aiming for a third straight 10-sack campaign. He ended up with 5.5 over a full 17-start season in which he led Dolphins D-linemen in snaps (780). Sieler also pitched in 47 tackles, 10 TFL and nine QB hits. PFF graded Sieler as a top-20 interior lineman in both 2022 and ’24, but he dropped to 58th (among 127 qualifiers) last season. Sieler will aim for a return to top form under defensive-minded head coach Jeff Hafley, who will call the plays, and DC Sean Duggan.
Information from Over the Cap was used in the creation of this post.