Since 1972 the National Football League has dominated television ratings and stood as the most popular sport in the United States.
A large amount of the league's success is due in part to the superstar status of the quarterback. Johnny Unitas, Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have all played a role in the march to make the NFL the most profitable sport in the world.
The continuous success of the NFL has led to an unceasing salary cap increase. According to ABCnews.com, the NFL's salary cap settled at $177.2 million per team, up $10 million from last year."
This season, NFL starting quarterbacks combine to make over 10 percent of the total salary cap-$603 million of the maximum $5.6 billion. Green Bay Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers tops the list with an annual salary of $33.5 million. The rest of the top five is astonishing.
The average current record of the top highest paid quarterbacks is 4-6-1, after factoring the three games 49ers' quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo played prior to a season-ending injury. Three of the five quarterbacks sit in last place in their respective divisions and all are on the brink of missing the playoffs.
Besides being the highest paid quarterbacks in the league, Rodgers, Ryan, Garoppolo, and Stafford each have over $100 million salaries. Considering their team's records, one can come to the conclusion that the large sum of money allotted to the quarterbacks has hamstrung their organizations.
Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk brought attention to these claims.
Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers highlight the $100 million quarterback group as both have reached a Super Bowl, the latter winning in 2011. In fact, only three of the seven current $100 million quarterbacks have ever reached a Super Bowl with four never making it past the first round of the playoff.
Since signing their newly minted contracts, none of the curent $100 million quarterbacks have won a Super Bowl and all, besides Ryan, have seen their teams' record decline.
Carolina Panthers' quarterback Cam Newton signed his contract following an impressive MVP run in 2015. The following off-season Carolina was unable and somewhat unwilling, to pay all-pro cornerback Josh Norman. The following seasons, Carolina finished 6-10 and 11-5 but in 2018 the Panthers are 6-6 and have lost five games in a row.
Two years later, two more quarterbacks reached the $100 million milestone. The first of the two was Oakland Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr. Coming off a tremendous 2016, Carr was every bit deserving of a new contract. The Raiders' future looked bright and the team even added pieces in an attempt to construct an AFC powerhouse-it failed miserably.
Since Carr's extension, the Raiders have fired a head coach, finished 6-10 and are now on route to finish under .500 again. Carr does not deserve the brunt of the blame but considering the Raiders have won more than eight games only once, the money could have been spent more wisely.
Alongside Carr, Detroit Lions' Matthew Stafford was the other quarterback to receive an extension. Entering the league in 2009, Stafford has filled stat sheets but has never possessed the record of an elite quarterback or prove capable of leading Detroit to a Super Bowl. The $27 million spent for Stafford's services has been a mistake.
The Lions quarterback has only made the playoffs three times in his career, none after his then record-breaking extension. The 2018 Detroit Lions are currently 4-8 and in the first year of new head coach Matt Patricia's contract.
Minnesota Vikings' quarterback Kirk Cousins may not reach the $100 million mark in regards to his contract but does rank third in annual salary. Cousins was brought in by Minnesota to fix their singular weakness from a season ago. Case Keenum led the Vikings to an NFC title game and was, essentially, the main cause of a 38-7 loss to the Eagles. Led by Cousins the Vikings were early season Super Bowl favorites. The 2018 season has seen Minnesota scratching their way to Wild Card.
Cousins has never led a team to a double-digit win season nor has he won a playoff game. The man he replaced, is now in Denver and has totaled the same amount of wins and vying for a Wild Card spot.
Aaron Rodgers broke the bank this off-season when he accepted a record-breaking $134 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. Rodgers, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, deserved a large sum of cash but was $134 million too much? Currently, Green Bay is 4-7-1, just fired their head coach and will likely miss the playoffs. Paying Rodgers was a must but could the Packers have built an offensive juggernaut had they reduced the former MVP's salary?
The Packers struggle on defense and more so in the secondary. Totaling 14 takeaways, Green Bay ranks 24th in the NFL. Reducing Rodgers' salary could have helped improve a weak Packers' defense comprised mostly of young talent or superstars past their prime.
Signing a pro bowl defensive players like Tyrann Mathieu or Ndamukong Suh were out of the question due to the Packers' obligation to sign Rodgers. Mathieu and Suh have combined for five total takeaways and 6.5 sacks, which would push Green Bay to the upper echelon of NFL defenses.
The quarterbacks that have been able to eclipse the $100 million mark are talented but only a few have a history of winning and one has captured a Super Bowl. Multiple factors go into how an NFL team works but the $100 million quarterback has a history of backfiring.
The last five quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl have been Nick Foles (replaced Carson Wentz), Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson and Joe Flacco. The closest one to $100 million was Manning's $96 million and the only reason the hobbled Manning won, was due to having the number one ranked defense.
The top four seeds in the NFL have some of the lowest paid quarterbacks in 2018. Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff and Tom Brady all rank outside the top 20 in annual quarterback salaries. The outlier of the group is Drew Brees who ranks sixth. Seven of the eight division leading quarterbacks rank outside the top 11 and none eclipse the $100 million mark.
The $100 million quarterback is a curse that has haunted NFL teams since the mid-2000s. Only three of the total 18 quarterbacks to ever receive a $100 million contract have won a Super Bowl following their deals.
The NFL is a quarterback-driven league but should not have quarterback driven teams.
*preview photo credited to gamblingsites.org.
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