
There is no denying that the quarterback position is the most important position in the league right now and has been for some time. Nowadays it seems like you cannot even make the playoffs without an elite QB because the position is so stacked. It is also no surprise that the highest paid position on most teams is the quarterback position as you cannot win without them. However, the question I posit today is: Are NFL Quarterbacks getting paid too much money?
Some people might argue that professional athletes in general are getting paid too much and while there is an argument there to be debated, that is not what I am talking about. I am referring to the percent of the team salary that the quarterback position takes up. For those who do not know in the NFL each team has a salary cap meaning they can only spend a set amount on players. This is so that the league stays fair and so that big market teams cannot pick up all the good players. Recently we have been seeing all these quarterbacks getting insane amounts of money, getting hundreds of millions of dollars guaranteed. My question is: when was the last time a top paid QB won the Superbowl?
When you look at the stats, they are almost funny as over the last decade it seemed to be either a QB on a rookie contract won the Superbowl, or it was Tom Brady:
2013- Seahawks
In 2013 the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos. Russel Wilson who was the quarterback for the Seahawks was under a rookie contract at the time, and since he was a third round pick his contract was even less. He accounted for only .5% of the Seahawks salary cap that year.
2014- Patriots
The New England Patriots barely beat the Seattle Seahawks this year in one of the most infamous Superbowl’s to date. Tom Brady led the team and himself to their fourth Superbowl win. He only accounted for 10.6% of the salary that year.
2015- Broncos
Peyton Manning got his second ring in the last year of his career getting that storybook ending. His team carried him in the end, but it almost felt like he was destined to win it. Peyton only accounted for 11.7% of the team salary.
2016-Patriots
Tom Brady led the charge in the best comeback in Superbowl history to get his 5th ring. It was one of the most memorable Superbowl’s ever because of how crazy it really was. Tom only accounted for 8.6% of his team’s salary.
2017- Eagles
As a Cowboys fan this was a tough year watching the Eagles Vs the Patriots in the Superbowl. I really did not want either team to win, but the Eagles ended up besting Tom under their backup QB Nick Foles. Even if you count both Nick Foles and Carson Wentz salaries that year, it still was only 4.3%.
2018- Patriots
In a sort of controversial Superbowl, the New England Patriots beat the Rams in one of the most boring Superbowl’s to date. I say it was controversial because many felt like the two teams in it should not have been, especially the Rams. Either way the Pats won, and Tom only accounted for 12.2%.
2019- Chiefs
It was only a matter of time before Mahomes was going to get a Superbowl. Many people forget however that he was still on his rookie contract when he won this Superbowl. He only accounted for 2.4% of the cap.
2020- Buccaneers
Tom Brady won another one in a game that nobody thought the Bucs would win. He basically crushed the Chiefs dynasty then and there. Brady only accounted for 12.2% of the teams cap.
2021- Rams
Matthew Stafford finally got his win after moving to the Rams beating the up-and-coming Bengals. Even though throughout his career Stafford was one of the higher paid QBs, he only accounted for 10.7% of the teams cap.
After looking at the stats, it seems like unless you are Tom Brady, the team is not going to win if their QB takes up more than 10% of the salary cap. I would also like to note that not once in the last decade has the highest paid QB won the Superbowl:
2013- Eli Manning (16.9%)
2014- Ben Roethlisberger (14.2%)
2015- Drew Brees (16.4%)
2016- Ben Roethlisberger (15.3%)
2017- Joe Flacco (15%)
2018- Jimmy Garoppolo (15.6%)
2019- Matt Stafford (15.8%)
2020- Russell Wilson (15.5%)
2021- Russell Wilson (17.5%)
The problem that these teams run into is that once they get a good QB, they have to pay them in order to keep them. Once they pay them however, they do not have enough money to spend on the rest of the team in order to keep them a contender. Tom Brady keeps winning because he is never the one of the highest paid QBs and this is intentional on his part because he wants to win. Even players like Mathew Stafford and Peyton Manning are not getting paid as much as they were in their primes, which allowed great teams to be built around them. An interesting thing to look at is how far the Chiefs have fallen since they paid Mahomes. They won the Superbowl while Mahomes was on a rookie contract. Since they have paid him however the Chiefs:
- Lost in the Superbowl
- Lost in the AfC Championship
- Had to trade their best receiver because they could not afford him
- Now projected to be one of if not the worst team in their division
I am not saying that teams should not pay their quarterbacks I am just simply saying that this is an interesting thing to look at. If quarterbacks truly want to win then maybe they should consider taking less money.
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