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A couple of years ago, NFL fans were probably shocked by the staggering contracts that went to quarterbacks.
Brett Favre and Drew Bledsoe, then in New England, each signed 10-year contracts worth a little more than $100 million, but owners and general mangers didn't choke once they saw the numbers. In reality, those headline grabbing deals were four-year deals that paid in the $7.5 million a year range, which seemed manageable to a salary cap that was stuck in the low $70 millions.
As it turned out, it was preview of coming attractions. The era of the $10 million a year quarterback has arrived and it's not going away. Bledsoe and Favre may have delicately taken the NFL into the $10 million quarterback era, but now, the numbers are tough. Quarterbacks are making $10 million a year cash. That might seem normal in baseball and basketball, but its implication could cause more grinding in NFL front offices as they look ahead.
"The quarterback is the most important position on the field so I think that was inevitable based on the performance of the top player at the top position," Rams president Jay Zgmunt said. "If anybody is going to be the highest paid, it's obviously going to happen at the most important position."
Brett Favre and Drew Bledsoe, then in New England, each signed 10-year contracts worth a little more than $100 million, but owners and general mangers didn't choke once they saw the numbers. In reality, those headline grabbing deals were four-year deals that paid in the $7.5 million a year range, which seemed manageable to a salary cap that was stuck in the low $70 millions.
As it turned out, it was preview of coming attractions. The era of the $10 million a year quarterback has arrived and it's not going away. Bledsoe and Favre may have delicately taken the NFL into the $10 million quarterback era, but now, the numbers are tough. Quarterbacks are making $10 million a year cash. That might seem normal in baseball and basketball, but its implication could cause more grinding in NFL front offices as they look ahead.
"The quarterback is the most important position on the field so I think that was inevitable based on the performance of the top player at the top position," Rams president Jay Zgmunt said. "If anybody is going to be the highest paid, it's obviously going to happen at the most important position."
