The Armchair Quarterback's Take Of The Week

The Armchair Quarterback's Take Of The Week

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The Armchair Quarterback’s Guide To The NFL: To Pass Or Stop The Pass?

By Lyle Graversen

Dec 22, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) and Seattle Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas (29) celebrate after Sherman intercepted a pass thrown by Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) (not pictured) during the second half at CenturyLink Field. Arizona defeated Seattle 17-10. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 22, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) and Seattle Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas (29) celebrate after Sherman intercepted a pass thrown by Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) (not pictured) during the second half at CenturyLink Field. Arizona defeated Seattle 17-10. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 1, 2014; New York, NY, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick walks the red carpet prior to the NFL Honors at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2014; New York, NY, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick walks the red carpet prior to the NFL Honors at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

The Armchair Quarterback Rant Of The Week

Quarterback salaries are completely out of control! Yes, Colin Kaepernick got a boatload of money on Wednesday, but this rant isn’t about Kaepernick. His contract was a byproduct of a trend that is spiraling out of control in today’s NFL. This rant actually coincides perfectly with the results of the study from the first part of the column. I just got done telling you that the best thing any NFL team can have is a good quarterback. Armed with that knowledge, QBs and their agents are now holding the NFL for ransom. Every year QB salaries set new records. New biggest total contract amounts. New highest average salary per year amounts. New most guaranteed money amounts. It’s a giant snowball of contract dollars that is rolling down hill and getting bigger and bigger and more and more out of control.

When teams find that they have the highly coveted “franchise QB” (what that actually means and what the qualifications are, I’m not sure) they simply can’t let him walk in free agency. Since teams (and the players, and the agents) know that a QB is the most valuable commodity in the NFL they almost have no choice but to give in to the demands of the QB and their agent. What is their alternative? Let him walk and have to start all over at the most important position in the game? That can set a team back five years if you don’t have a good replacement waiting in the wings, maybe even longer.

There is speculation that my beloved Kansas City Chiefs may be the next team to get steamrolled by this monstrous QB salary snowball. Depending on who you believe, Alex Smith may be looking for a deal worth over 100 million dollars. Now, I’m a Smith supporter. I think he’s by far the best option that KC could have gone with when Andy Reid came to town. Does that mean I’m comfortable with KC giving him 100+ MILLION DOLLARS? No, get out of here with that foolishness. Smith is good, not great. 100+ million dollar contracts that eat up a high percentage of a team’s salary cap should be reserved for QBs that can carry a team on their back. Guys like Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady (we could debate what other guys should/shouldn’t be on this list, but that’s not my point here). You can pay those players 20% of your team salary cap and still win games because they bring so much to the table. They almost win games by themselves.

However, there are a bunch of very good, very talented QBs that are good enough to win a Super Bowl, but they need a talented team surrounding them. I would put guys like Alex Smith, Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, etc. on that list. If a team pays those types of QBs the same amount of money as the first tier guys that can carry teams on their backs by themselves, they put their organization in a very difficult position. They now have to put together a talented roster to support their good, but not great QB with very limited cap space to work with.

I don’t begrudge any NFL player getting their big payday. They put in the work. They have the talent. They sell tickets for the team. They are putting their long-term health at risk. They deserve it. However, having said that, things can’t keep going like they are going. At this rate, five years from now the Alex Smith-esqe QBs are going to be getting contracts in excess of 150+ million dollars. At some point one of these QBs is going to have to decide if “Keeping up with the Joneses” is more important than competing for a Super Bowl.

Keeping with the Alex Smith example, it’s not like if Smith took a 5 year 80 million dollar contact he’d be living in the poor house. It would be a big enough financial investment to ensure that he’d be KC’s starting QB for the foreseeable future, but wouldn’t handicap his team with some record breaking contract that truth be told, he doesn’t deserve. Look at what Tom Brady did. He deserves to be one of the top paid QBs in the league but he took well below his market value to help the Patriots build a complete roster. As a KC fan, I’m hoping that Alex Smith will be the next QB to see reason and help get these QB salaries under control.

In not him, someone has to, and soon. These QB salaries are getting out of control and eventually some poor team is going to have to let a perfectly good starting QB walk in free agency because the cost of letting him go sadly won’t be as high as the price tag to re-sign him.

Next up, the “Beer Review of the Week”…..

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