Ranking the 5 Most Overpaid Athletes in Professional Sports
By Chris Furry
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Final Thoughts
No countdown would be complete would be complete without a few honorable mentions. Mine include Albert Pujols, who signed a huge contract after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title in 2011, then under-performed markedly in 2012 with the Los Angeles Angels.
Alex Smith, while no longer necessarily overpaid, was given a six-year, $49.5 million contract with $20 million guaranteed before he ever even stepped on the field. He then spent the next six years being average, at best.
As I said in the beginning this list is in no way all-inclusive, there are countless horrible contracts in the world of professional sports. As long as team executives feel that single year performances are indicative of a player future performance, bad decisions will be made, and ridiculous amounts of money will be handed out.