Blitzen
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In terms of the contract for the current starting QB- all of us should know by now that $55M, 60M, whatever is basically inconsequential without knowing the guaranteed money and total number of actual years (not including the voidable years).
Lots of factors come into play for these QBs salaries. In my opinion, the biggest factors in their negotiations is salary precedence and job insecurity for most front office leadership. The GM and other front office positions are given maybe 3 seasons to show major improvement that their predecessor could not. This combined with a tiny number of actual elite QBs is why QBs get way over-drafted, over-payed, and over-planned around.
If there is even small amounts of success from the QB position (let’s say making the playoffs for the first time in awhile and actually winning a game), the QB hype marketing train is immense in this league. Jersey sales go through the roof and the player gets talked about on the national stage more. The marketing machine is attempting to drive narratives to hopefully drive ratings and eventual money making.
You can typically see what the market was like for a free agent QB by just looking at guaranteed money vs number of years. See Kirk Cousins $100 million over 4 seasons, Derek Carr $70 million (max-10 of which is a vesting option in year 3), Baker Mayfield $50 million over 3 seasons. For those of you that think the QB market for a new franchise QB means paying more than the previous highest earner got-it’s BS marketing material. Guys get signed based on how much the club feels the person is worth to the franchise (money wise and onfield production-for most clubs on-field production is heavily tied to a large chunk of their money making). The starting QB in Dallas makes the club more money (relative to other franchises) by virtue of simply being the starting QB in Dallas-so his on-field production is not as important to making money in Dallas. Most guys are worth more to the franchise they are currently working at than at a brand new destination-which is why they typically do not hit free agency. That’s what makes the Dallas QB decision unique-the club can put many individuals into the starting spot and still make enormous amounts of cash from a large segment of the fan base. This decision now comes down to comfort or attempting to actually improve the position and planning for future seasons. They have chosen comfort for so long that I’m surprised they did not just extend the current starting QB and move on about their business.
Lots of factors come into play for these QBs salaries. In my opinion, the biggest factors in their negotiations is salary precedence and job insecurity for most front office leadership. The GM and other front office positions are given maybe 3 seasons to show major improvement that their predecessor could not. This combined with a tiny number of actual elite QBs is why QBs get way over-drafted, over-payed, and over-planned around.
If there is even small amounts of success from the QB position (let’s say making the playoffs for the first time in awhile and actually winning a game), the QB hype marketing train is immense in this league. Jersey sales go through the roof and the player gets talked about on the national stage more. The marketing machine is attempting to drive narratives to hopefully drive ratings and eventual money making.
You can typically see what the market was like for a free agent QB by just looking at guaranteed money vs number of years. See Kirk Cousins $100 million over 4 seasons, Derek Carr $70 million (max-10 of which is a vesting option in year 3), Baker Mayfield $50 million over 3 seasons. For those of you that think the QB market for a new franchise QB means paying more than the previous highest earner got-it’s BS marketing material. Guys get signed based on how much the club feels the person is worth to the franchise (money wise and onfield production-for most clubs on-field production is heavily tied to a large chunk of their money making). The starting QB in Dallas makes the club more money (relative to other franchises) by virtue of simply being the starting QB in Dallas-so his on-field production is not as important to making money in Dallas. Most guys are worth more to the franchise they are currently working at than at a brand new destination-which is why they typically do not hit free agency. That’s what makes the Dallas QB decision unique-the club can put many individuals into the starting spot and still make enormous amounts of cash from a large segment of the fan base. This decision now comes down to comfort or attempting to actually improve the position and planning for future seasons. They have chosen comfort for so long that I’m surprised they did not just extend the current starting QB and move on about their business.
