The NFL has officially reached the point where it is about to jump the shark on quarterback contracts setting — and re-setting — the market. According to reports, Dak Prescott might be next in line and could haul in a whopping $60 million per season. Prescott had a great 2023 campaign, but how does Jerry Jones justify paying the QB that kind of dough?
Sure, you can put up good numbers and win some games, but only two QBs have won more than one Super Bowl title in the past decade: Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. Brady is currently retired, and Mahomes appears to be positioned as TB12’s heir apparent as the NFL’s GOAT QB. Narrowing it down even further, Mahomes and Brady have won four out of the last five Big Games.
However, we’ve seen Mahomes ink a more team-friendly contract, allowing the Chiefs to build a Super Bowl-caliber team around him. You’d have to look back a number of years to find the last time any of the other top 10 highest-paid QBs (per year) in 2023 won it all. That would be Russell Wilson in 2014, and Aaron Rodgers in 2011.
Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts appeared — and lost — in a Super Bowl apiece. As for the other names on that list — Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson, and Josh Allen — only the reigning MVP and the Bills signal-caller have reached a conference championship game.
Herbert’s fortunes could possibly change for the better with Jim Harbaugh as his new head coach. Despite starting five different QBs, Cleveland made the playoffs. But Watson’s deal was a terrible investment, as evidenced not just by character, but by his poor play. Burrow is coming off injury, and Hurts — and the Eagles as a whole — regressed last season.
Is Dak worth more than the aforementioned signal-callers? These huge QB contracts are great for the players who can get them, but they do so much to damage the squad in terms of retaining other key pieces or acquiring new ones. It’s really a tough situation for NFL front offices because, at this point, it’s clear if you don’t have what’s considered a franchise QB you have little to no chance of winning it all. But once you take a closer look at who’s actually winning Super Bowls and realize that it’s only a couple of guys, you may rethink this whole notion of paying QBs to keep up with the Jones.
