Troy signed a contract in 1993 that was 8 years, 44 million. 5.5 million average. So, when the cap started in 1994, it was 34 million. 5.5 is 16% of 34. The only year we won the Super Bowl during the cap era was 1995, when the cap was 37 million. 5.5 is about 14% of 37 million. In 2000, the final year of that contract, the cap had risen all the way to 62 million. So if Troy was making 5.5 that year, his percentage would have fallen to 8 or 9%, much lower.
Of course, I doubt his contract was structured evenly that way so that his cap hit was the same each year. But that is just basic back-of-the-envelope math based on the overall contract value and length.
In 1999, with 2 years still remaining on his previous extension, Troy pushed for a new contract and got it. The cap had risen to 57 million by this point, and Troy signed a 9 year, 85.5M contract. 9.5 million average. So the market value of a good QB was 70% higher than it had been when he negotiated his last deal 6 years earlier. The salary cap in 1999 was 57, and 9.5 (the average amount) was 16% of that.
Of course, it wasn't Troy's contract that doomed us. The problem was, same as it ever is, Jerry not understanding how this game works. And not understanding how the economics of football work.
In 1997, as offenses were modernizing and it was clear where the league was headed, he still gave an almost-30 RB a massive 7-year deal even after his production had drastically fallen in 1996 after 1995.
One of the dumbest contracts, which perfectly illustrates how Jerry just doesn't understand the economics of football: Late in his career, he gave Daryl Johnston a contract that was worth half of Irvin's. Imagine giving a blocking fullback a deal that is worth half what a #1 wide receiver costs. It would be like giving a fullback $13-15 million annually today.
(Fun side note: Troy lobbied for us to do that one. The "Gee, Troy should come back and be General Manager to save us" crowd likes to ignore this. Just like they also like to ignore how Troy signed off on it when we wasted a 1st rounder on a lumbering, blocking TE. Troy would be a terrible General Manager, judging by his fingerprints on some of our all-time terrible personnel decisions when he was around here.)
