NFL Teams Will Pay Huge Money In Hopes Of Finding The Next “Great” QB
After Jimmy Garoppolo’s recording setting contract on Thursday, it just goes to show how desperate NFL teams are to find and retain a “good-to-great” quarterback.
It’s clear that the San Francisco 49ers are extremely high on Garoppolo, after seeing him play only 6.5 games and having signed him to a five-year, $137.5 million contract extension.
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What has Jimmy G done to become the highest paid player in the NFL?
He’s won seven games over seven career starts, while throwing for 2,250 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. That’s what!
(Photo by John Grieshop/Getty Images)
Now does this warrant being paid more than Matthew Stafford, who was previously the highest paid quarterback, with his 60 wins in 125 games, 34,749 passing yards and 216 touchdowns?
Or how about Drew Brees? The 11-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion has led the NFL in numerous stat categories throughout the years, while winning 75 percent of his games. Brees has thrown 31-times more yards than Garoppolo, yet he was the fifth highest paid QB in the league in 2017.
You could say Garoppolo is setting the market for his position.
Garoppolo’s contract could end up helping a guy like Brees and be used as a benchmark when negotiating a new deal, since he’s now a free agent. And the scary part is that a guy like Kirk Cousins, who hasn’t won squat, could be paid more than Jimmy G after the Washington Redskins made it clear that Alex Smith is their quarterback after attaining him via a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.
(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
And then we have a guy like Tom Brady, who’s won five Super Bowls, three MVP awards and holds more records than we have time to count. He’s been vastly underpaid throughout his career, ranking 13th among QB’s, yet we all it’s been his decision to take less. Is he now knocking on Robert Kraft’s door asking for more cash to be more like his former backup?
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As it sits right now, Garoppolo is the highest paid QB under contract, followed by Matthew Stafford, Derek Carr, Andrew Luck and Joe Flacco to round out the Top Five. And then it’s Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers. Half of the top 10 paid quarterbacks have gone on to win the big game. Some multiple times.
Regardless of what these quarterbacks have done, Jimmy G has changed the “QB Pay Game” forever. If you show some sign of being a “good-to-great” quarterback, you’re going to get paid HUGE money! Now if you end up sucking, oh well. You still are getting fat stacks of dough thanks to guaranteed money.
For Garoppolo, it’s $74 million in guaranteed money, according to Jimmy Garoppolo’s deal with the #49ers averages a league-high $27.5 million over five years with total guarantees totaling $74 million, per source.
In a year where three of the four quarterbacks playing in the AFC Championship and NFC Championship games were “above-average” at best, team’s are now becoming thirsty for QB’s they think can compete with the best of them and take their club to the next level.
It’s unclear what Jimmy G’s legacy will be when all is said and done, but the one thing we do know is that he’s a GAME CHANGER.
— By John ‘The Dude’ Hardiman, 985TheSportsHub.com
