The Most Expensive Quarterbacks of 2020

Top 20 Most Expensive Touchdowns in 2020

$3,6 million is more than most of us earn in a lifetime, but for the 49ers Jimmy Garappolo, it was made with a perfect throw. Now, of course, it wasn’t that easy as Jimmy had a difficult season and suffered an ankle injury through a large part of it. He only played in 6 games and set up 7 touchdowns, which gives him relatively low stats compared to his salary.

Injuries haven’t just impacted Jimmy, but all the top 5 quarterbacks on our list have actually missed several games due to this. Yet, the money has been paid, so we think it’s fair to include them even though their season has been anything but successful.

If we look at the most successful quarterbacks of the 2020 season, Green Bay Packers veteran quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, tops the list with 48 passing and 3 rushing touchdowns. Buffalos Bills less experienced Josh Allen is the most affordable amongst the bunch with an average touchdown price of $55k. That’s $400 more than the average salary for full-time employers in Canada 2020, according to jobillico.com.

Both Aron and Josh took their teams all the way to their respective Conference Championship, but both lost and missed out on a chance in the Super Bowl.

Top 20 Most Expensive Yards in 2020

It’s all about pushing forward and getting the most out of every yard! Even though any NFL quarterback relies heavily on the rest of the players in the team, extra skills are required to be successful. Having Tom Brady’s fine-tuned arm or Russel Wilson’s majestic dodging skills on the team will undoubtedly raise the chances for some serious yardage. However, it doesn’t help much if no one blocks the defence or if the receiver has slippery hands.

Now, our table of the most expensive yards is quite similar to the previous list. And again, injuries inflicts the list. Jimmy Garoppolo still tops the list, with Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys) and Carson Wentz (Philadelphia Eagles) following.

Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings) is the most expensive quarterback amongst those who played all 16 games of the regular season, with 4287 yards gained in total, each priced to $9,3K. To compare, that one yard is enough to buy *8 iMacs, and you’ll even get some Dollars to spare for accessories.

Deshaun Watson (Houston Texans) was on top of the season with over 5267 yards gained in total. Patrick Mahomes  (Kansas City Chiefs) was a close second with 5048 yards, but the real bargain of the 2020-season was Josh Allen, priced at only $503 per yard. That’s more than 18 times cheaper than Kirk Cousins!

*Based on the price of an 21,5 inch 256 GB iMac on apple.com, $1099.

Top 20 Quarterbacks with Highest Salary in 2020

Now, it’s worth noting that the salary for NFL players is slightly more complicated than for people with “normal” jobs and does not necessarily reflect the season’s success. If that was the case, the Superbowl winner, Tom Brady (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), should have topped our lists, with Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) being a close second. Instead, it depends on the player contract.

The contract is normally done on an annual basis and locks the player in for a number of years. Normally, a pretty juicy signing bonus is also included and is paid out over several years due to the salary cap, regardless of whether the player was injured or not. You can read more about this further below.

Now, looking at the top three players on our list, none of them had a fantastic season. Ryan Tannehill (Tennessee Titans) was the only one making it to the wild card playoff. However, the season ended there. But due to both Ryan and Kirk Cousins signing an extended contract and Carson Wentz leaving Philadelphia Eagles for Indianapolis Colts, they all received the best payout of the 2020 season.

Tom Brady, the Superbowl winner, “only” made $27,8 million, which is enough to buy 7 Lamborgini Sián* cars. Superbowl loser, Patrick Mahomes, got a merely $10,8 million payout, or only 3 Lamborgini Sián cars. However, the latter is about to change as Mahomes signed a 10-year contract with the Chiefs worth a massive $450 million.

*Based on the price of a Lamborgini Sián, $3,6 million, according to this website.

NFL Quarterback Contract

Let’s be honest, the salaries for NFL players are a complicated minefield. With several different types of contracts, cap numbers, bonuses and players transferring to other teams, the exact salary does not necessarily match the performance.

We feel it’s important to quickly explain some of the key aspects of a player contract so you can better understand how we made our calculations. Now, it’s worth noting this is a complicated topic, and to fully explain it all, one would have to write a book. In fact, several such books have already been written, and if the topic speaks to your heart, we recommend you check out a few of those.

However, to make it easy to grasp the concept for an NFL salary newbie, the explanations below are very simplified.

Salary Cap Number

One of the most important aspects is the salary cap. Every year, NFL sets a salary cap all teams must follow to ensure a levelled playing field. This means that a team’s overall player salary cannot surpass this number. The salary cap does not include coaches and other personnel and is for the players only.

In 2020, the salary cap was set at $198.2 million, and for the 2021 season, the cap is set to $182.5 million. How each NFL franchise split up the amount between the players is up to themselves, but over four years, each team must spend at least 89% of the total salary cap.

Each player will get a salary cap when they sign a contract, and normally, the most important players will have the highest earnings, such as quarterbacks. The salary cap does not necessarily mean the player will earn that amount of money, but he might if the season is successful.

Signing Bonus

The signing bonus makes it slightly more complicated as this is guaranteed money. There are no limitations set for the signing bonus, but it must still follow the salary cap rules.

The signing bonus can be $50 million or even more for the real big players, which could potentially take a large chunk of a team’s salary cap. We have earlier mentioned Patrick Mahomes’s new 10-year deal, which more than doubles the team salary cap of 2020.

To ensure it’s less impactful towards the cap, the signing bonus will usually be paid in full over the contract period. However, if a team decides to cut the player, the rest of the signing bonus must be paid out that year, which was the case for Carson Wentz. This is called a dead cap. The same is true if the player gets injured in the season.

Now, it’s worth mentioning the signing bonus rarely is paid out evenly over the contract period, as the example above shows. Normally, the player receives a smaller amount the first year of the contract with an increased salary cap over the years.

Last words

As we have previously mentioned, NFL quarterback salary is a complicated topic, and this explanation has barely scratched the surface. Besides the salary cap and signing bonus, many other factors affect the overall payout. Some teams are experts at stretching the salary cap to benefit their budget, and cutting expensive players from the rooster early on is one of the strategies.

It’s important to remember that NFL is a team effort, and even though the quarterback holds an important position, the other players are equally important. Besides, some teams rely more on rushing than passing, which also causes the quarterback to have lower stats in general, but still worth the money.

Written by: Petricia petricia@new-casino.ca new-casino.ca