Regrading the top-5 QB contracts by AAV after Tua Tagovailoa's new deal

He was bound to get paid the big bucks at some point. That day was Friday afternoon. After many of us questioned if he was going to get a second contract, the Miami Dolphins have officially decided that Tua Tagovailoa is the guy for them going forward. He may be slight of build, injury-prone and left-handed, but man, does he throw a beautiful spiral. Tagovailoa's new deal is all about Mike McDaniel.

Upon seeing Tagovailoa sign a four-year deal worth $212.4 million, we have to reshape our brains a bit and come to grips with the fact that he is now a top-three recipient of quarterback cash per average annual value. Has Tagovailoa won a playoff game yet? Is he even a top-10 quarterback in the game today? Well, he is sure paid like one. Plus, Dan Marino never really won much of anything either.

What I am going to do today is take a look at the five highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL today based on AAV and see if those are still good deals or not. Oh, who am I kidding? Every team who pays a quarterback is pretty much doing so at a premium. It is all about getting your guy locked up long-term, hoping a team with a worse quarterback than you ends up paying way too much for their guy.

Look at the top-seven quarterbacks in terms of AAV. There is no Patrick Mahomes to be found here...

Let's start out with another draft classmate of Tagovailoa's who still has not won diddly poo either!

5. Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert ($52.5 million AAV)

I still can't believe Dean Spanos agreed to pay Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert his five-year deal worth $262.5 million. The Bolts have long been a card-carrying member of the Unholy Triumvirate of Cheap. The good news is he has already been paid and now has a proven quarterback whisperer in Jim Harbaugh as his head coach. The bad news is Harbaugh will wear his players out.

He is going to finally be coached up but will be playing for one of Andrew Luck's former college coaches at Stanford, the one he was less close to. Luck retired from playing before he turned 30. I don't think Herbert will do that, but he too is a smart guy with other interests besides football. Right now, I am still bullish on the deal he signed, but he needs to win a playoff game in the next three years.

His deal will depreciate with each passing year, but he may be the Gen-Z version of Matthew Stafford.

Grade: B+

4. Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff ($53 million AAV)

Who doesn't love Jared Goff? He went from a guy on the recently relocated Los Angeles Rams who didn't know where the sun went, to the face of the Detroit Lions franchise. Goff got paid handsomely this offseason, pulling a four-year deal worth $212 million. It may be a lot, but he was the No. 1 overall pick out of Cal for a reason by the Rams. Plus, the Lions are my pick to win the Super Bowl this year.

The best part about this deal is that Goff will be quarterbacking a team that still was somehow able to retain its two star coordinators, Aaron Glenn on defense and especially Ben Johnson on offense. He may regress a bit in 2025, but Goff is a professional. He is 30, takes good care of himself and has never been seriously injured before. The Lions' Super Bowl window is wide-open, all because of Goff.

This is the best grade I will give any quarterback making top-five at the position according to AAV.

Grade: A

3. Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa ($53.1 million AAV)

Not going to lie, Tua Tagovailoa has the worst deal of the five quarterbacks currently occupying the top five in terms of AAV. The Miami Dolphins really had no choice but to pay the guy. While he should be ecstatic to have earned his four-year deal worth $212.4 million, he is the only quarterback I see inside the top five who is not a top-10 player at the position today, nor a top-10 talent. He is good...

The good news is Tagovailoa has an elite receiving corps and a head coach who believes in him in Mike McDaniel who has the potential to take him from good to great. At the end of the day, that is really all that matters. I may not love the deal, but it is the price to pay for doing business when it comes to franchise quarterbacks. You do have to wonder if that money could have gone elsewhere.

Let's start by winning a very winnable division this year. After that, I will gladly eat some humble pie.

Grade: B-

2. Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence ($55 million AAV)

To be fair, I don't love this deal either. In Trevor Lawrence's first three years out of Clemson, what do we really know about the face of the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise? He has proven to be more of a trailer than a tractor at the NFL level. Perhaps playing with elite talent at Clemson vs. lesser ACC competition covered some things up? Again, I don't hate Lawrence's five-year, $275 million deal.

What I like more about Lawrence's than Tagovailoa's deal is he is a bigger body and a more healthy athletic specimen. Where I don't like it more than what Justin Herbert is getting from the Chargers is that I am not sure ownership and his head coach are properly aligned. It may just be a bump in Shahid Khan's working relationship with Doug Pederson, but he shouldn't be making more than Jared Goff today.

Lawrence has proven to be the best quarterback in a weak draft class, so here is your big pay day!

Grade: B

1. Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow ($55 million AAV)

Everything I wanted Trevor Lawrence to be coming out of Clemson Joe Burrow has been that for the Cincinnati Bengals since coming out of LSU. I wish his knees weren't so torn up already, but when he is healthy, he is a top-three quarterback in the game. He is not as physicality gifted as Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes, but he plays with a poise unlike anyone still in the game today.

Like Lawrence, Burrow signed a five-year deal worth $275 million. The only difference is he was the market setter, as he got his contract sooner. Outside of injury concerns, the only thing that is keeping it from being the best deal on the books when it comes to the top-five has everything to do with ownership. Mike Brown does not want to pay his wide receivers what they are worth. That is an issue.

Burrow is an outstanding quarterback, but he now carries an injury-prone label he must get rid of.

Grade: A-