2. Jason Pierre-Paul, defensive end, New York Giants,
Pierre Paul suffered a career speedbump when he accidentally blew part of a few fingers off in a grisly 2015 Fourth of July fireworks accident. Unfortunately this threw a huge monkey wrench into his financial plans. Prior to the accident, JPP had been trying to negotiate very lucrative, long-term contract extension with the Giants.
Instead, JPP missed eight games and played under the franchise tag. Naturally, his numbers dipped playing with a partially disabled hand. Then in the 2016 season, Pierre-Paul signed a one-year prove-it deal for $10 million. Fortunately for the 28 year old defensive end, his performance improved dramatically. Last season, JPP registered seven sacks, 55 combined tackles and one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown.
It was enough of an up-year that Pierre-Paul should be on course to cash in big in 2017. The two-time Pro-Bowler has already stated he has nothing further to prove (more on that here).
He now has his eye on a deal similar to the five-year, $85 million deal the Giants signed fellow defensive end Olivier Vernon to in 2016.