Bust-a-Fied Presents: The Top Ten Paycheck Stealers In The NFL

10)  Matt Leinart

-  With the 10^th pick of the 2006, Dennis Green selected this Hollywood stud, unknowingly ending his NFL head coaching career.  Leinart signed a six-year, $51 million contract.  Matt has 7 wins and only 17 NFL starts so far in his 3 year career.  He has thrown for 3,458 yds, 14 TDs and 17 INTs.  Fortunately for Matt and unfortunately for the Cardinals, future hall of famer Kurt Warner retired and Matt retains the starting job by default.  To make Cardinals fans feel even worse, Jay Cutler who has more career wins than Leinart has TDs, was still available to draft.

9)  Fabian Washington

-  Al Davis loves speed, speed, speed.  Fabian has plenty of speed, speed he has been using to cash the big paychecks he has been stealing.  Selected 23^rd overall in the 2005 draft, Fabian has 50 starts and 6 INTs in his 5 year career.  He has made about $9 million over his career and was traded to the Baltimore Ravens for a 4^th round pick.

8)  Matt Jones

-  Matt Jones, who?  Matt Jones, who?  The former 6’ 6” QB ran a mind numbing 4.40 second 40-yard dash at the 2005 combine, making himself millions of dollars.  In four seasons with Jacksonville, Money Matt had 2,153 receiving yards and 15 TDs.  In that same time frame, Matt cashed in about $8 million worth of Jaguars fans hard earned money.  After missing the 2009 season, Matt is hoping to cash at least one more check in Cincinnati, worth $700,000.

7)  Ted Ginn, Jr.

-  The best thieves always seem to be the fastest.  To be honest, it’s not entirely Ted’s fault he made the list, part of the blame should go to the former Dolphins staff that selected him so high.  Ted was selected 9^th overall in the 2007 draft, before several outstanding players such as Patrick Willis, Darrelle Revis and Leon Hall.  Ginn made $6.8 million in his first two years and has scored a grand total of 10 TDs.

6)  Bobby Carpenter

-  The Dallas Cowboys owner has made some brilliant draft picks in the past, but the drafting of Carpenter 18^th overall in the 2006 draft was just plain stupid.  In four years, this first round pick has started 3 games and has a total of 96 tackles and 3.5 sacks.  Along with cutting his hair, Carpenter needs to give back the $9.6 million he stole from Jerry Jones.

5)  Tye Hill

-  If I were a betting man, I would have bet that Tye Hill would be #1 on this list.  Amazingly, Hill is only number 5, having been drafted 15^th overall in the 2006 draft.  Blinded by the 4.34 second 40-yard dash Hill ran at the combine, the Rams signed him to a five-year $10.2 million contract.  Before being traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a 7^th round pick, Tye spent 3 years in St. Louis where he had a total of 21 starts, 108 tackles and 5 interceptions.  In Atlanta, Tye only played in 8 games and had 1 INT, before being released and signed by the Tennessee Titans for the upcoming season.

4)  Troy Williamson

-  Somebody go wake up Al Davis and tell him we got speed, speed, speed.  At 6’1” 203 lbs, Troy ran a 4.32s 40-yard dash and the Vikings could not let that combination of size and speed, pass them by at the 7^th pick in the 2005 draft.  In 5 NFL seasons, Troy has started 24 games, caught 1,131 yards and 4 TDs.  In those same 5 seasons, Troy has happily cashed in $15.9 million.  If you are good at math, like me, you calculated that Troy has made $3,975,000 per touchdown.

3)  Alex Smith

-  Be on the lookout for a 25 year old male, 6’4”, 217 lbs; he is wanted for cheating the 49ers out of $24 million in guaranteed money.  After putting up impressive numbers at Utah and at the combine, the 49ers drafted Alex Smith as the first overall pick in the 2005.  Smith signed a six-year, $49.5 million contract.  Over his 5 NFL seasons, Alex has started 40 games which is an average of 8 games per year.  If those numbers weren’t impressive enough, Alex has 37 TDs, 43 INTs and 30 fumbles.

2)  Vernon Gholston

-  “With the 6^th pick in the 2008 NFL draft, the New York Jets select, The Buminator, linebacker from The Ohio State University.”  The New York Jets selected Vernon Gholston with the 6^th pick in the 2008 NFL draft.  Normally, two years isn’t enough time to be able to evaluate the career of a player, but in this case, the future for Vernon is quite clear.  He has only started 3 games and has 30 tackles and 0 sacks in his career.  That’s right, the sack machine in college (21.5 sacks at OSU) has as many NFL sacks as Stephen Hawking.

1)  JaMarcus Russell

-  When looking up the word failure in the dictionary, you should find a picture of JaMarcus Russell.  You will probably find his picture next to the words lazy, indifferent and disappointment too.  After waking from his mid-day nap, Al Davis selected Russell with the first pick of the 2007 draft.  In his three NFL seasons, Russell has 25 starts, 4,083 passing yards, 18 TDs, 23 INTs, 25 fumbles and 15 fumbles lost.  With a black ski mask and hoodie on, JaMarcus signed a six-year contract for $68 million, with $31.5 million guaranteed.  Just a few days ago, JaMarcus weighed in at 300 pounds, maybe his pockets were just filled with $100 bills.