With the NFL set to have an enormous cap spike coming up, front offices around the league have been opening their pocketbooks and paying their franchise quarterbacks. Over the offseason, three of the largest contracts in the history of the league were signed by quarterbacks.
Aaron Rodgers
The current highest-paid quarterback in the NFL is Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers secured a three-year $150.815 million contract extension. This deal will keep Rodgers on the Green Bay Packers until the 2026 season if the Packers decide to guarantee that year of his contract. While it was great that the Packers were able to keep the two-time MVP on the team, to make this extension possible, Green Bay was forced to trade star wide received Devante Adams.
Without Adams on the team, the Packers’ wide receiver room is left with a big hole and it will be on Rogers to bring the receivers to their full potential. This extension will likely keep him with the Packers for the remainder of his career. Despite his age, he is still at the top of his game and is looking to win his third consecutive MVP this season and bring another Super Bowl to the Packers.
Russell Wilson
The next highest-paid quarterback is Russell Wilson who over the offseason was traded to the Denver Broncos. Alongside this deal, Wilson signed a five-year $242 million deal with the Broncos. Denver mortgaged their future to add Wilson to the team, however, adding him to the roster made the Broncos legitimate contenders. The full deal sent Wilson and a 2022 fourth-round pick to Denver for Drew Lock, Noah Faint, Shelby Harris, the 9th overall pick in the 2022 draft, a 2023 first-round pick, the 40th overall pick in the 2022 draft, and a 2023 second-round pick.
The Broncos roster was a quarterback away from being a playoff-caliber team last season. It was clear that Drew Lock would not be enough to get the job done for Denver. Wilson is still an elite quarterback and will put up big numbers with the well-rounded Broncos receiving core.
Kyler Murray
The third highest-paid quarterback in the league is now Kyler Murray. The deal gave him a three-year $105 million extension. Murray has proven himself as the franchise quarterback for the Cardinals. The bar was set high for him after being the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft. Up to this point in his young career, he has met the lofty expectations that come with being a number one pick. Since acquiring Murray, the Cardinals have done everything in their power to cater to him and make sure he can develop. Some of these moves include trading for Deandre Hopkins and recently trading for Marquise Brown.
Arizona has one of the most high-powered offenses coming into the 2022 season. Coming off of a disappointing end to their 2021 playoff run, the Cardinals will be looking to bounce back and make a deep postseason run in 2022.
