It was called one of the worst contracts in recent NFL history. How could Ricky Williams, then-the NCAA's all-time rushing record holder, sign a contract in which he'd have to become one of the best running backs in NFL history to make a living?

	Saints running back Ricky Williams is on pace to collect $775,000 this season.

How could No Limit Sports managing director Leland Hardy ever face up to being the hand that guided Williams' pen across the dotted line? How could the Saints executives, who had to give Ricky anything he wanted as their only draft pick, keep themselves from laughing when they walked out the door?

Last year, Williams under the watchful eye of Hardy, who reportedly failed a take-home agent test from the NFL Player's Association, signed a seven-year deal with the Saints worth between $11 million and $68.5 million. If Williams became one of the best backs ever, he'd be on his way to the maximum. But if he fell short of being one of the league's most prolific runners, he would likely make less than $20 million throughout the life of the deal -- aside from his $8.8 million signing bonus.

Williams' contract looked even worse since the Saints had no other picks to sign in 1999. "You know, obviously when a team trades all of their draft picks in the draft to get you, you can pretty much name your price and that didn't happen," said one agent, who asked to remain anonymous.

Hardy still believes he negotiated a great deal for the former Heisman Trophy winner from Texas.

"The nature of the sports business, the agency business and the media business is such that the rival agents were able to poison the media and others that the Ricky Williams contract was a bad contract," Hardy said. "But I still contend that Ricky's contract was the greatest contract ever written for a player. If he does what he thinks he could do, what he believed he thought he could do at the time he signed the contract, and what I believe he can do, it would reward him more handsomely than any player has ever been rewarded."

However, the argument against Hardy's reasoning is very strong. Williams' hard times last season didn't exactly stop the media from pointing out how ridiculous particulars of the deal were.

Williams earned the NFL rookie minimum of $175,000 and made an additional $50,000 for being on the field for 35 percent of the Saints plays. With 253 carries, 884 yards, a 3.5-yards-per-carry average and two touchdowns, an injury-plagued Williams didn't even come close to reaching his other $50,000 potential bonuses.

	“	I still contend that Ricky's contract was the greatest contract ever written for a player. If he does what he thinks he could do ... it would reward him more handsomely than any player has ever been rewarded. ”
		— Leland Hardy, Ricky Williams' agent

But with 772 yards rushing yards through his first seven games, including a 4.2-yards-per-carry average and seven touchdowns, Williams might actually be able to afford the car he always wanted. According to projections made by ESPN.com, Williams is now on pace to collect $775,000 on a base salary of $275,000 and would earn the capped maximum of $500,000 by triggering 10 of 26 incentive bonuses. These bonuses include reaching or exceeding 12 rushing touchdowns, 76 points, 41 receptions and 1,601 yards of total offense.

Williams, who is now a client of Leigh Steinberg, is on pace to score 13 rushing touchdowns, rack up 90 points, catch 70 passes and accumulate 2,380 yards in total offense. His projected total of 1,760 rushing yards this season would also earn him a pay increase to $1 million for the 2001 season.

But Williams still has a long way to go in order to earn big money. He is not even close to the numbers that Terrell Davis put up during his first four years in the league. That's significant because Williams' salary from 2003 through 2005 will be determined by what similarly ranked backs are making -- only if he reaches or exceeds Davis' numbers.

	In The Money ?
	Ricky Williams is on pace to collect $50,000 each for surpassing the following four plateaus in 2000...
	- 1,601 total yards
	- 41 receptions
	- 12 touchdowns
	- 76 points
	But his projected numbers are still well off the pace Terrell Davis set in his first four years...
		Davis	Williams
	Rush yds.	6,413	5,228
	Yds./carry	4.8	3.9
	Total yds.	7,594	6,872
	Pts.	366	204
	— Rico Longoria, ESPN.com

"The real failing of this contract wasn't the money," said agent David Canter, president of Total Entertainer and Athlete Management (TEAAM), the agency that manages Redskins running back Stephen Davis. "It was that in order to reach some of his incentives he would have to be Terrell Davis for four years in a row."

Williams is over 1,100 rushing yards and 162 points off the four-year pace that Davis set from 1995 to 1998. Hardy could have structured the contract so that Williams would easily earn bonuses if he had a decent season -- bonuses that would not count against the Saints' salary cap (structured under the Collecting Bargaining Agreement as "not likely to be earned").

Edgerrin James, who was taken one pick before Williams, made over $4 million in bonuses off his Rookie of the Year performance last year. Most of James' bonuses fell under the "not likely to be earned" category.

Williams said earlier this week that if he does well enough, he shouldn't have to renegotiate. Saints general manager Randy Mueller would have little reason to rework the contract since the deal is looking sweeter and sweeter every game.

Meanwhile, Hardy still thinks Williams will come out on top. "There is no happier person on the planet for Ricky Williams than Leland Hardy," he said. "The world is finally getting to see the athlete and the person that Ricky is, and since he has played injury-free, I think the naysayers will be silenced by Ricky's exploits ... he will do it."

Darren Rovell covers sports business for ESPN.com. He can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com.