Chad Hutchinson
Hutchinson teeters on notorious more than he does notable, but his tale of dual-sport tribulations has its place in pop-culture/sports timelines during the sweet spot of caution-to-the-wind, big-dollar singings. Drafted 48th overall in 1998, the righty inked a $3.5 million contact…with a $2.5 million signing bonus. But he never panned out for the Cardinals. He pitched in four games and had a 24.75 ERA and two strikeouts—one of those was against pitcher Denny Neagle.
In 2002, the Dallas Cowboys signed Hutchinson to a contract that included a $3.1 million bonus, plus three years at $5 million—with a no-baseball clause. He started 15 games in the NFL (10 with Dallas, three with Chicago), going 3-13 with 11 TDs and 11 picks.
No one on this list earned more doing less than Hutchinson—$5 million of his nearly $10 million was to promise he would never play baseball again.