Which athlete fell furthest and fastest off the talent cliff?

None of them are with the notable exception of Nate Burleson. The signing bonuses are the points of emphasis. That money is guaranteed, and if the players are released early, those signing bonuses count against the team as "dead money" against their salary caps.

The reason Burleson's deal is guaranteed is a "poison pill" the Seahawks threw into the offer sheet saying that after a few games in his first season that all the money in his deal is guaranteed. An exception to the NFL rule for certain.

 

Bumped to reflect my current mood.

 

I think there was some kind of stipulation in Burleson's deal that if he played a certain number of games in the state of Minnesota, six I believe, the whole thing was guaranteed.

That was what made the Vikings not match the deal, if I recall. The whole thing was a pissing match cause Seattle was angry the Vikings swooped in and got Hutchinson.

 

Exactly, Ross. It was little more than a ham-handed attempt by the Seahawks to "get back" at the Vikings for signing Steve Hutchinson.

Um, most would take Hutchinson over Nate Burleson. While apples and oranges, it's still not much of a contest. And Paul Allen owes Burleson a lot of money.

 

Not sure he's in the same category as some others on here, but he definitely dropped off the face of the earth. First time I ever saw him was in this photo in a book my dad gave me when I was 8. Still one of the coolest sports photos I've ever seen.

 

Burleson has done very little since he got here, now he is going to be a very highly paid third receiver.

 

Derek Sanderson gets my vote. Life pictorial and first $1M contract in hockey, to sleeping in the park a few years later. Granted, it wasn't from one year to the next, but it was quite the epic fall.

Kordell Stewart is also a good choice.

 

Marion Jones.