Fired NFL Coaches And Executives Have Made $800 Million Over The Past Five Years

ByJoey Heldon December 21, 2022inArticles›Sports News

Earlier this year, we explored how five college football coaches had been fired about a month into the season. Collectively, they’ll receive $56.7 million from their universities to not coach — they’re being paid an average of $11.34 million to go away. And much like how NFL athletes are typically better than collegiate ones, fired NFL coaches and executives put the NCAA to shame.

NFL officials told league owners that, over the past five seasons, teams have spent an insane $800 million on fired coaches and front-office executives. That’s an average of $160 million per year for people who are no longer with the organization.

The NFL calculated costs for specific teams in a spreadsheet released to league owners. Each franchise can see exactly how much they’ve spent on fired employees.

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Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

On average, nearly seven head coaches get replaced each season. Seven teams fired their head coach during or after the 2021 season: the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Houston Texas Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, and New York Giants.

The Giants are in a particularly rough spot. They’re currently paying THREE different head coaches. Their current head coach is Brian Daboll , who’s led the team to the brink of the postseason in his first year. The Giants are also paying Joe Judge; the team fired him in 2021, just two seasons into his five-year contract. And the Giants still owe money to former head coach Pat Shurmur, too. They fired him in 2020 — again, just two years into a five-year deal.

This season, the Tennessee Titans fired general manager Jon Robinson with four years remaining on his last contract extension. Their AFC South rival, the Indianapolis Colts, fired Frank Reich, who signed a contract extension in August 2021. He still had four years left on his deal, which is worth $9 million annually.

The Carolina Panthers also fired Matt Rhule just three seasons into his seven-year, $60 million deal. The Panthers still owed Rhule $34 million when he signed an eight-year, $74 million contract with Nebraska in November.

Will knowing how much money they’ve spent stop NFL owners? Probably not — even the least valuable franchise is worth billions of dollars. These guys have money to blow and aren’t afraid to use it in the hopes of making a splash. And if that splash turns into a belly-flop…well, they’ll just dust their hands off and try again.

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The Phoenix Suns Are Paying Two Head Coaches Next Year — And Mike Budenholzer Is Making Money From Two Teams

ByJoey Heldon May 14, 2024inArticles›Sports News

The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks didn’t have much of a shared history before the 2021 postseason. Sure, the teams played against each other every year, but there wasn’t really a rivalry or any bad blood between them. Then they met in the NBA Finals, which the Bucks won in six games after dropping the first two contests of the series.

Well, the Suns and Bucks now have something else in common: They’re both paying head coach Mike Budenholzer .

Budenholzer and the Suns agreed to a five-year deal worth a reported $50 million. Under those terms, Budenholzer will earn $10 million per season, which makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league. The hiring comes the same week as the firing of previous head coach Frank Vogel .

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Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Now, the Suns owe Vogel the remaining $24 million or so on his deal, as well as the $50 million for Budenholzer. Unless there’s an unreported clause in Vogel’s contract, Phoenix will pay about $16 million combined to both head coaches for the next four seasons, for a grand total of $64 million.

Vogel served as the Suns’ head coach for just one season. Despite a 49-33 record and a playoff appearance, new Suns owner Mat Ishbia wanted to make a change. He got the best head coach who isn’t already tied to a team.

Budenholzer, 54, won NBA Coach of the Year during the 2014-15 and 2018-19 seasons. He has previously been head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and the Bucks. His total record as a head coach is 484-317 across ten seasons. Before that, he served as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs for over a decade and a half.

Despite the 2021 championship, the Bucks fired Budenholzer after the 2022-23 season. The Bucks finished first in the Eastern Conference but lost in the first round to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat. Budenholzer still had $16 million and two years remaining on his deal, and the Bucks owed him all of that. He made $8 million this season and is due another $8 million next year. After the brief tenure of Adrian Griffin ended midseason and Doc Rivers replaced Griffin, the Bucks are currently paying three head coaches .

It’s possible Budenholzer’s buyout was negated after he signed with another team. However, with the way some of these contracts are worded, he very well may be making $18 million next year as both the Suns and Bucks pay guys not to coach for them.

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The Raiders Owe $50 Million To Five Different Fired Coaches Next Season

ByJoey Heldon January 6, 2026inArticles›Sports News

The Las Vegas Raiders will have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. However, they’ll be approaching that selection with a new head coach in tow. After finishing the season with a 3-14 record, the Raiders fired head coach Pete Carroll just one year into his contract.

Carroll’s Raiders tenure started off promising enough with a road win over the New England Patriots, who ended up being one of the best teams in the AFC. But the Raiders could never build on that Week 1 victory. The team proceeded to lose 14 of its next 15 games before ending the season with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs—and even that game required a 60-yard field goal from Daniel Carlson in the closing seconds to secure a Raiders victory.

Carroll still had two years remaining on his deal, so the Raiders will owe him a buyout of $16 million next season, even though he’s no longer coaching. That means the Raiders are paying five different coaches a collective $50 million next season, and none of them currently coach the team.

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Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Here’s who else the Raiders owe money to:

Jon Gruden, $10 million

Jon Gruden had spent nearly a decade in the broadcast booth before returning to the sidelines for the Raiders. He had previously coached the team from 1998 to 2001, and his 10-year, $100 million contract in 2018 is one of the largest a coach has ever received. Gruden ultimately resigned on October 11, 2021 after a league investigation into the Washington Football Team (who were later renamed to the Commanders) uncovered several emails Gruden had sent to then Washington general manager Bruce Allen that used racist, misogynistic, and homophobic language. Since he had signed such a long contract, the Raiders are still paying him $10 million annually.

Josh McDaniels, $10 million

Josh McDaniels took over as the Raiders head coach early in 2022, signing a six-year deal. His first season ended with a 6-11 record, with Las Vegas dropping several close games. His second season didn’t start off much better; the Raiders began 3-5. McDaniels was fired on Halloween night in 2023. He joined the Patriots for the 2025 season, his third stint in New England. He’s had solid success as the offensive coordinator, so he’ll be earning money from both the Patriots and Raiders, who will pay McDaniels about $10 million per season until his contract ends.

Antonio Pierce, $8 million

After McDaniels was fired, Antonio Pierce became the interim coach during the 2023 season. He won his first game 30-6 against the New York Giants. Coincidentally, the Giants had the second-worst record this past season. Pierce finished that interim season with a 5-4 record, and the Raiders officially named him the coach in January 2024. He made it less than a year in charge, however, as the Raiders went 4-13 and Pierce was shown the door. Nevertheless, he’ll make $8 million next season.

Chip Kelly, $6 million

Las Vegas fired Chip Kelly in November 2025, just 11 games into the season. He was in the first of a three-year deal worth $18 million. Coordinator contracts are typically guaranteed, so he’ll receive $6 million next season and $6 million in 2027.

Raiders owner Mark Davis is now on the hunt for the next coach of the team. At least he isn’t shy about spending money.

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  • Fired NFL Coaches And Executives Have Made $800 Million Over The Past Five Years