In the current state of the NFL, it seems that every offseason the size and value of contracts continues to grow at a rapid rate. In terms of guaranteed money, six of the top ten contracts that guarantee the most were signed this past offseason by Matt Ryan (94.5m), Kirk Cousins (84m), Aaron Rodgers (79.2m), Khalil Mack (60m), Alex Smith (55m) and Aaron Donald (50m). Of the entire top ten contracts that guarantee the most money, the list consists of eight quarterbacks, one linebacker and one defensive end. To take that even further, a wide receiver doesn’t appear on this list until fifteenth and a running back not till after thirtieth, both on the New York Giants.
Is it just expected that by shoveling money into the pockets of a quarterback that he will lead your team to the playoffs consistently if not to a Super Bowl? I don’t expect this to be the case since all the quarterbacks in the top thirty of guaranteed money have four combined championships, half from Eli Manning. I think there is a deeper strategy to winning Super Bowls than overpaying one position on the field when there are fifty-three players on a team that need a cut of the salary cap.
If a team is unable to balance their pay throughout their roster to excel in all three phases of the game, it’s highly unlikely that they will be able to lift the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season, take the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles for example.
In the current state of the NFL, it seems that every offseason the size and value of contracts continues to grow at a rapid rate. In terms of guaranteed money, six of the top ten contracts that guarantee the most were signed this past offseason by Matt Ryan (94.5m), Kirk Cousins (84m), Aaron Rodgers (79.2m), Khalil Mack (60m), Alex Smith (55m) and Aaron Donald (50m). Of the entire top ten contracts that guarantee the most money, the list consists of eight quarterbacks, one linebacker and one defensive end. To take that even further, a wide receiver doesn’t appear on this list until fifteenth and a running back not till after thirtieth, both on the New York Giants.
Is it just expected that by shoveling money into the pockets of a quarterback that he will lead your team to the playoffs consistently if not to a Super Bowl? I don’t expect this to be the case since all the quarterbacks in the top thirty of guaranteed money have four combined championships, half from Eli Manning. I think there is a deeper strategy to winning Super Bowls than overpaying one position on the field when there are fifty-three players on a team that need a cut of the salary cap.
If a team is unable to balance their pay throughout their roster to excel in all three phases of the game, it’s highly unlikely that they will be able to lift the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season, take the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles for example.
On the flip side of how much Super Bowl Champions pay their quarterbacks, it is important to note the ranks of the quarterback of the teams at the bottom of the league. Averaging together the bottom ten teams in each of these years, no average quarterback rank has been higher than sixteen. In fact, the average of all the years together is eighteenth. In half of the seasons that average was greater than how much the Super Bowl Champion paid their QBs. This means that the position is important, undoubtedly, but it’s not always the most important spot for a team. Especially a team that competes for a Super Bowl.
On an individual level as opposed to the group of quarterbacks, the numbers are a bit more telling. On average, the last ten Super Bowl Champions have had the twentieth highest paid QB in the league and the last place teams had an average of about the twenty-seventh highest paid passer. Those two numbers are alarmingly close. Although this graph does show a few years when one of the highest paid QBs did win
the Super Bowl such as the Broncos in 2015 with Peyton Manning or the Giants in 2011 with Eli Manning, there are a few years where teams such as the Seahawks or Packers got huge value out of their quarterback for a much cheaper price. Even the Baltimore Ravens in 2012 won the Super Bowl while Joe Flacco only had the sixteenth highest cap hit of any other QB in the league. A middle of the road quarterback in terms of money could be the best way to build a championship worthy team instead of putting all your chips into one basket. In a disastrous situation in 2011, the Colts had the second highest cap hit for a quarterback but due to injury, most of their cap for that year went to a player who was unable to take a snap.
Source
https://www.spotrac.com/
About the Author
Patrick Schilling is a senior at Western Carolina University pursuing a double major in sports management and computer information systems. Please follow him on LinkedIn.
