The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were flush with cap space in the spring of 2012, coming off a 4-12 season and looking to surround their young quarterback with the right talent when they made Carl Nicks the highest paid guard in the NFL.
Nicks was unquestionably one of the league’s best interior linemen at the time, and while his signing didn’t work out for Tampa Bay because of injuries and a bout of MRSA that ended his career, then-Bucs general manager Mark Dominik didn’t flinch at giving Nicks a previously unheard of contract.
Nicks was in the prime of his career, a two-time Pro Bowler who won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay's division rival, the New Orleans Saints.