Dallas Mavericks center Nerlens Noel (3) during the game against the San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines Center. The Spurs defeat the Mavericks 97-91.
Imagine being in a position to decline nine figures.
Declining such an offer defies logic, but sometimes, it proves to be the right move. Plenty of professional athletes are put in that position every year, and some of them actually say no. Max Scherzer did it in 2014 when he declined a $144 million extension from the Tigers and decided to bet on himself and go for a bigger contract in free agency. He ended up cashing in big time when he signed a $210 million contract with the Nationals. Scherzer’s $144 million bet came with a payout of almost $70 million.
But not everyone is as lucky as Scherzer. Sometimes, declining an eight or nine-figure deal is as illogical as it sounds on the surface, and there are plenty of athletes who can attest to that over the years. Big paydays often come up only once in an athlete’s career, and passing them up doesn’t usually come with second chances.
Many guys on this list didn’t get second chances to recoup the big paydays they passed up. Let’s take a look at 12 players who foolishly declined multi-year, multi-million dollar extensions.
Jason Pierre-Paul
Contract Declined: Long-term, $60 million
Estimated Money Lost: Unclear
The Giants reportedly had a long-term, $60 million contract extension offer on the table for Pierre-Paul during the early portion of the 2015 offseason. "JPP" was planning on declining the deal and continuing extension negotiations throughout training camp.
He ultimately wouldn’t get a chance to decline the offer, though, because the Giants pulled it after his infamous 4th of July fireworks incident. The incident badly disfigured his right hand and put his playing future in serious question. This story has a happy ending, however, as Pierre-Paul showed little decline after the injury and ended up inking a four-year, $62 million contract in 2017. So "JPP" didn’t lose much after all.
Vladimir Radmanovic
Contract Declined: Six years, $42 million
Estimated Money Lost: About $10.4 million
In the latter days of the Seattle SuperSonics franchise, Radmanovic emerged as a solid frontcourt option off the bench. He routinely averaged double figures for Seattle and was a pivotal role player on Sonics teams led by Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. This prompted Seattle to offer him a six-year, $42 million extension before the 2005-06 season. He declined.
After that year ended, Radmanovic signed with the Lakers for far less than what the Sonics offered him before the season. He ended up making about $10.4 million less over that six-year stretch than he would have had he signed that contract.
John Amaechi
Contract Declined: Six years, $17 million
Estimated Money Lost: About $10.4 million
Amaechi was a relatively unknown player when he came to the Magic in 1999. He had spent the previous three seasons playing overseas before landing in Orlando. But despite his status as an unknown commodity, he ended up playing quite well. He averaged 10.5 points per game, eventually becoming the team’s starting center.
After his first season with the team, Amaechi was offered a six-year, $17 million contract with the Lakers. He declined it—knowing full well what he was doing—to take a meager six-figure salary to play another year with the Magic. "Against the counsel of my agent, sisters, and best friend, against everything that says I'm not making the best of the situation, against my own best financial sense, I'm re-signing because I think the Magic need me more than the Lakers," Amaechi said at the time.
Amaechi played just one more season with the Magic, followed by two more with the Jazz, before his NBA career ended. He never played anywhere close to as well as he did in the 1999-00 season. Not only did Amaechi pass up on millions of dollars, but he also passed up on a chance to be on the Lakers’ dynasty teams.
Latrell Sprewell
Contract Declined: Three years, $21 million
Estimated Money Lost: $21 million
Ah, Sprewell. Who could forget when he said $21 million wouldn’t be enough to feed his family?
Sprewell famously said that he "had a family to feed" when he declined a three-year, $21 million deal from the Timberwolves. Well, if he couldn’t do it on $21 million, the alternative was $0. He was unable to sign with any team after the 2004-05 season, despite the fact that many teams were interested in him and he was still capable of playing. He wouldn’t agree to any contract offer that he felt was too low, and it turned out that every contract offer was too low for him.
Since declining that contract, Sprewell has had a well-documented array of financial problems, including his distinction as the No. 1 delinquent taxpayer in the state of Wisconsin. Passing up on this deal probably wasn’t a smart move.
Terrelle Pryor
Contract Declined: Four years, $32 million
Estimated Money Lost: $24 million (so far)
After flaming out as a quarterback, Pryor resurfaced as a wide receiver for the Browns in 2016 and was way better than people expected him to be. He racked up 1,007 yards on the season, which is fantastic for an ex-quarterback playing his first full season as a wide receiver. What made this even more impressive was that he did it for the NFL’s worst team.
The Browns were so impressed by Pryor that they offered him a four-year, $32 million deal after the season, with $17 million in guaranteed money. Not bad at all for a guy who had only been a receiver for a year. But Pryor decided to bet on himself and sign a one-year, $8 million "prove it" deal with the Redskins.
As anyone who owned Pryor in fantasy last year knows, he did not live up to the hype in Washington. He had just 240 yards receiving on the year and made just two starts thanks to injuries and ineffective play. He remains unsigned so far this offseason.
Tim Lincecum
Contract Declined: Five years, $100 million
Estimated Money Lost: $21.5 million
A $100 million contract seemed like a bit of a low-ball offer for Lincecum after the 2011 season. He had posted a 2.98 career ERA up to that point and had won two Cy Young Awards. An ace pitcher might be worth a little more than that.
Unfortunately for Lincecum, his days as an ace were numbered. He led the league in losses in 2012 and posted a 5.18 ERA. He ended up returning to the Giants on a two-year, $40 million contract but never quite found the same success he had earlier in his career.
Joe Smith
Contract Declined: Long-term, $80 million
Estimated Money Lost: At least $27 million
The No. 1 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft showed quite a bit of promise during his first two years in the NBA with the Warriors. He averaged 16.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during these two seasons. Golden State decided it wanted to make him a franchise cornerstone in his third season when the team offered him an $80 million contract extension. He declined and was traded to the Sixers shortly after that. Following the trade, his numbers took a major downtick.
After Smith became a free agent for the first time, he signed a well below market value one-year $1.75 million deal with the Timberwolves and a similar deal the following offseason. This might have looked like poor negotiating on his camp’s part. But it turned out that the reason he had done this was because of an under-the-table offer he had with the Wolves.
Smith agreed to play the first three years of his time with Minnesota on cheap one-year deals so that the Wolves could get more cap space. They, in turn, agreed to sign him to a three-year, $86 million extension once they had his Bird rights, meaning they could go over the salary cap to keep him. This agreement was highly illegal, and once the NBA found out about it, the Timberwolves were docked five first-round picks. Smith never got that $86 million extension—and it’s safe to say he was not worth five first-round picks.
Ian Desmond
Contract Declined: Seven years, $107 million
Estimated Money Lost: $29 million
Desmond was a pivotal part of the Nationals’ playoff teams in 2012 and 2014, as one of baseball’s best power-hitting shortstops. He hit at least 20 home runs in three straight seasons from 2012 through 2014. So the Nationals wanted to lock him up long-term and offered him a seven-year, $107 million deal ahead of the 2015 season. Desmond declined, hoping to get more on the open market.
But Desmond’s decision just so happened to coincide with his career-worst season. He batted just .233 with a .290 on-base percentage that year. He ended up signing a one-year, $8 million contract with the Rangers that offseason, where he actually had a solid bounce-back year. After that, Desmond was able to recoup a good portion of the money he passed up with a five-year, $70 million contract from the Rockies.
Bonzi Wells
Contract Declined: Five years, $38.5 million
Estimated Money Lost: $33.5 million
After averaging 13.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game during the 2005-06 season, the Kings offered Wells a five-year, $38.5 million extension to stay in Sacramento. Wells helped bring the team to the playoffs that season (for what would prove to be their last playoff appearance to date), and at 29, he was in the prime of his career.
Wells declined this offer with the hopes of getting a better deal in free agency. But that deal never came, and he ultimately signed a one-year deal with the Rockets. He was never the same player after this season, and Wells’ NBA career was over by 2008, three years before the contract he declined would have expired.
Neil Walker
Contract Declined: Three years, $42 million
Estimated Money Lost: $37 million (so far)
The Mets offered Walker a three-year extension for about $42 million during spring training last year. Walker’s camp declined this initially but later re-engaged the Mets about accepting the offer, which the team declined to do.
This offseason, Walker hit free agency during a winter that was as cold and frugal as any in MLB history. He ended up signing with the Yankees in the middle of spring training on a mere one-year, $4 million contract. The reported Mets extension would have paid him an average of about $14 million per season through 2020.
Nerlens Noel
Contract Declined: Four years, $70 million
Estimated Money Lost: $66 million (so far)
The Mavericks offered Noel a four-year, $70 million contract extension at the start of NBA free agency last summer. Noel’s agent declined. And given the number of obscure NBA players who have received huge multi-year deals over the last few years, who could blame him?
Well, Noel had to wait for a payday. And wait. And wait.
Once that payday never came, Noel signed a one-year, $4 million contract to return to the Mavericks in late August, almost two months after the start of free agency. This season has not been a good one for Noel—he has played in just 25 games all season—so it doesn’t look like anyone will be offing him anything close to $70 million this offseason. But with the NBA, who knows?
Juan Gonzalez
Deal Declined: Eight years, $140 million
Estimated Money Lost: $101.4 million
It seems like a distant memory now, but Gonzalez was one of the most dominant athletes of the 90s. He won MVP awards in 1996 and 1998 and had at least 100 RBIs every year from 1991 to 1999. He looked well on his way to Cooperstown when he was traded to the Tigers before the 2000 season.
After the trade, Detroit offered him what would have been the richest contract in baseball history up to that point: An eight-year deal worth $140 million ($201.5 million in 2018 dollars). This would have kept him with the Tigers through the 2009 season. He declined the contract in part because of the pitcher-friendly conditions at Comerica Park, which was in its inaugural season in 2000.
This proved to be a major financial mistake. The 2000 season was Gonzalez’s worst since he became a full-time player in 1991. He missed 47 games due to injury and failed to reach the 100-RBI plateau for the first time in a decade. While free agents like Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and Mike Hampton signed record-breaking deals in the 2000-01 offseason, Gonzalez had to settle for a meager one-year, $10 million contract with the Indians. His MLB career would soon take a turn for the worst, and it was over by 2005 after a series of injuries.
In passing on that contract, Gonzalez made about $100 million less than he would have had he accepted it. And for the Tigers’ sake, it’s probably a good thing that he didn’t.