The Quarterback. The most important position in professional sports. These are the guys that get all the attention, all the cash and all the girls.
There is no doubt that Quarterbacks in the NFL have been getting overpaid for quite some time, without deserving all of the money they receive. Of course as time passes and the economy grows there is more money to be spent, Therefore athletes in every sport have been getting paid more than in past times.
This year there were three major contract signings which were discussed all around the globe:
Joe Flacco: 120.6 million dollars: Coming off a Superbowl MVP performance and a great playoff run, the Baltimore Ravens didn’t wait long to lock up their franchise QB. I don’t agree with the contract he got, but there is a concept that has been misunderstood lately by the league. If any QB wins a Superbowl everybody right away hails him as an elite QB and that was exactly what happened with Joe Flacco. He isn’t an elite QB and he has the numbers to prove that, He can win and get his team to the playoffs consistently but let’s be clear about something; he had a lot of help doing it. He didn’t deserve that much but it was a desperate move by the Ravens so that some team in the FA market wouldn’t take him away for the same price. As a maximum I would have given him 80 million until he can prove that he can carry a team to the playoffs on his back.
Tony Romo: 108 million dollars: Really? Is that the worth of a guy with one career playoff win? I don’t think so. He is the least clutch QB in the league, even if anybody pulls out his great numbers in the fourth quarter. When the play has to be made he always seems to come up short. Nobody pays a QB 108 million dollars to come up short! That is the money that proven winners should get, like: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees and even Ben Roethlisberger (people forget he has two rings). What will be said after the Dallas Cowboys miss the playoffs or make a first-round exit from them? The same as always, “It isn’t just Romo it’s everything, it’s the defense and the O-line. He can’t do it alone” That could have been said until he became a 108 million dollar QB.
Aaron Rodgers: 110 million dollars: This is one QB that deserved it. He was the 2012 NFL MVP, Superbowl XLV MVP and he is the best QB in the league at the moment. When you pay a guy like Rodgers you know that he will produce and that with him at the helm you will always be a contender (just look at the Patriots). This contract is an example of money well spent.
NFL teams are afraid to let an average QB that gives you a chance to win like Romo or Flacco walk away. If they let them walk away and they don’t find an adequate replacement the franchise goes into rebuilding mode. If you have a QB like Romo, Flacco or Freeman that will get you into the playoffs and won’t win, the only thing that you’re doing is building around an incapable guy that will never win for you. If you overpay for one guy and one guy only, your talent all around will dramatically be worse due to the fact that the franchise will be unable to pay free agents or retain key players for a championship run. The 100 million dollars have to be given to the guys that can carry a team on their back and not to someone who just won or someone who has the potential to win.
Twitter: @fantasychamp
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