Bag alert bag alert bag alert bag alert bag alert folks. That's right Trevor Lawrence got paid. I
Don't know how to really feel about this, but we'll just have to figure it out speak
You know I need to go to the store I need to go to the store give me a football
See if I can start throwing some 50 and 60 yard bottles
Maybe I can try to make it to the NFL get one good contract just leave
I don't know we'll figure it out, but
We'll gotta you know we got to talk about you know if he was you know overpaid or underpaid
How does this affect future quarterback?
Contracts it has the quarterback market gotten out of hand all of this and more on the 12th episode bonus episode to be honest with you
You in two episodes in one week. That's crazy, right? I know on the 12th episode of the football junkies podcast
I'm your host Kale your GM who is still scouting three years in advance
Even though guess what he's still not on the team. Let's get it
Alright folks, so I'm going to try to be as professional as I possibly can but I
You just have to laugh at this. You just have to because ain't no way
Ain't no way you mean to tell me that
you can be
Average to a little bit above average
Never seen him before but hey, well whoever their agents are I need you guys to represent me
Okay, because there's no way that this happened, but it happens. So we have to talk about it
So if you guys don't know
Trevor Lawrence quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars ain't a five-year extension with them, right?
five years 275 million with a 37 million dollar signing bonus
200 million guarantee he'll be making 55 million a year
142 million will be guaranteed at signing and 200 million in total guarantees according to spot right now
Before we you know get into the opinions and whatnot. Let's look at the stats as well. Okay, so according to CBS Sports
Trevor Lawrence is fifth all-time in most passing yards in the first three seasons at
11,770 yards. He is third all-time in quick passes since entering the league at
5,483 yards according to next-gen stats. He has had three
1,000 plus passing yard seasons according to ESPN 2021. He had
3,641 yards, excuse me 2022 he had
4,113 passing yards and then in 2023 he had
4,016 passing yards and
right he had a passive rating of
71.9 in 2021
95.2 in 2022 and 88.5 in 2023 and
he's had two years of
20 plus touchdown season in both 2022 and 2023 according to ESPN, right?
Now when you look at these when you read off of these stats, it's like wow
He sounds like an elite quarterback that's you know doing a whole lot of whatnot. Yes, that is true
That is true. Trevor Lawrence, you know is definitely
Up there, you know with quarterbacks. However
You know
When you pay it when you pay any player, especially quarterbacks this this a type of amount of money
What happens is it puts the team in a chokehold
because
The team is no longer it makes the team harder to you know to build around you, right?
When you look at
The Patriots dynasty for for for instance, Tom Brady always took less because why he wanted to be surrounded with talent, right?
And so
When you are building a team
Most times you're gonna have to take less you're gonna have to sacrifice a little bit simply because if you want to bring in, you know
Top comp, you know a top player
You're gonna have to you're gonna have to compensate them in some way
Especially when you make a trade or you sign somebody for your agency, whatever the case may be
You're gonna have to you know
Some something's gonna have to get cut something right and so, you know paying paying a player
55 million
Definitely puts the team in a chokehold and you know per example with Joe Burrow, right?
People think oh, you know the bangles did the right thing and sign a Joe Burrow which they did
But it's the amount of money that they signed him to right because when you look at it right now
They're in a situation where they have to pay both to Marge's and T. Heckins and if we're being real here to Marge's
That's the number one receiver. So he's gonna want top dollar money same thing with T. Heckins
They just let go of Joe mixing
So they they've had to you know figure out and they've they've tried to you know
trim the fat a little bit just to figure out exactly how in the world are they going to you know be able to
Try to build a team around Joe Burrow
That's what it boils down to right when you if you want a team to be able to make a playoff run and eventually when a Super Bowl
You have to be able to you know
Recognize that okay certain positions you are going to invest into and then other positions
Whereas the quarterback you may want to pay them less because if you pay them less
That gives you the freedom to bring in anybody that you think could play a major role on the team
Right when you and that's why a lot of you know a lot of GM's
You know believe in the notion that when you get a rookie quarterback
That's the perfect time to build you know to build around them because you don't have to pay them for five years, right?
Five years you don't even have to have a conversation about them about money at all for five years almost six years
if you franchise tag them right and so
You know I say all that to say this you know and I have to think about this I have to think about it
I had to sleep on it honestly
You know I was like you know what did they overpay him did not overpay him did they did they do a little bit too much?
They overpaid it they overpaid they overpaid him by a mile because there is no way in the hell that
Trevor Lawrence should be making 55 million now if it's 50 million 51 million if it's around the same of like Lamar or Jaylen Hertz
But to say that you are going to be tied with Joe Burrow as you know as the highest paid
Quarterback that's just outrageous because when you look at the highest paid quarterbacks according to CBS Sports via Spotrack
They're they're tied. Okay, Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow tied as the highest paid quarterbacks right now
Under them you have Jurg off at 53 million Justin Herbert 52.5 million Lamar Jackson 52 million Jaylen Hertz 51 million
Kyla Murray 46.1 million to Sean Watson 46 million Kirk Cousins 45 millions and Patrick Mahomes 45 million
Patrick Mahomes
Super Bowl winning champion
Patrick Mahomes is making 45 million a year
Right. He still got his money
But he but he left enough money to where if they need to go and then and they need to get another receiver
If they need to get another offense alignment a tackle a running back
Middle linebacker whatever the case may be they have the they have the funds to do that
That's how you continue to win. That's how you continue to be competitive
It's not when you just overpay for your quarterback and then try to figure out how you're gonna do everything else
It's not how it works. Okay
And it's gonna show it's gonna show you
People are not going to see the effects of this contract now because it's fresh
Give it three years
We'll have a different conversation, right?
Because and and even then even when you when you break down the the playoff records for some of the highest paid
You know quarterbacks
Patrick Mahomes is the only one with a winning
Playoff record at 15 and 3. Okay, Kirk Cousins playoff record 1 and 3
Dashaun Watson's 1 and 2 Kyler Murray's
You know one loss Jalen Hertz 2 and 3 Lamar Jackson 2 and 4 Justin Herbert
1 loss Jared golf 4 and 4
Um Joe Burrow 5 and 2 and Trevor Lawrence 1 and 1 right and so I say all that to say this
You know when you are paying these quarterbacks you have to factor in everything
Because if you don't you're gonna put yourself in a hole and then you know once once you're too deep in the contract where
The cap hits are you know
A gregis and you're unable to really make any moves and you're basically put in this chokehold type of situation because
There can be a situation. I know I've said it multiple times
But I want I want you to understand and I want to emphasize the importance of not paying a quarterback
you know
Almost record-breaking, you know money because there's gonna reach a point in the season, right?
Where somebody might be hurt and there is an opening, you know and there could be a player that's basically saying, you know
I want out. I want to go somewhere else and you can get them for the low for the low low without having to
Give up, you know a first-round pick and two players and
compensatory picks and whatnot
Can't do it if you have a quarterback who's cap hit, you know, well not even cap it
But who's making 55 million a year can't do that. Can you know you can't so you know
It's a it's gonna be frustrating. It really is but
You know, this is the decision that the Jaguars made until now
They basically made their bed and now they must lay in it now
Transitioning over to the next topic, right when you look at, you know, these these these quarterback contracts, right?
Especially this contract this contract is directly going to affect
The the upcoming contracts are supposed to be happening for the quarterbacks, right?
Because when you break it down, right the future
Free agent quarterbacks Jordan love dag presscott to it and Justin Fields, right?
When you look at for instance Jordan loves his market value according to spot rack his market value is a four-year
191.5 million dollar deal. He will be making 47.9 million a year. That's pretty good. That's pretty good
That allows you to be able
To go after, you know a key free agent that you've had your eye on
To be able to re-sign a few other players that you want to stay with the team
Whatever the case may be, right? And you know, even even even as we continue on with other
You know free future free agent quarterbacks
That that presscotts market value according to spot rack is a four-year
203.5 million dollar deal. He'll be making 50.9 million a year
Which you know, it is in that 50 million threshold
But it's not you know, it's something that's a little bit more manageable
If you know if you have a GM that can structure the contract correctly where basically, okay
Yes, he gets his money but at the same time you're not breaking the bank, right?
It still gives you a little bit a little bit of wiggle room to you know
Bring in a few people if you need to make a few splash moves or free agency, whatever the case may be, right?
We look at tool is market value tool is market value is four years
198.5 million he'll be making forty nine point six million here. That's even better
That's even better folks that 40 that that 49 to like 52 million dollar range
That's the sweet spot because even then you can you can configure the contract to where
Basically, you know for like the first two years is like where you're really seeing, you know
Those crazy cap hits and those in those crazy numbers and then for the rest of the contract
It's more easy. It's more manageable. It's more digestible
And you know if the two if the quarterback wants to leave the team or if you want to you know land a
Superstar guess what you can do it because why you have to leverage to do it with your cap
When you look at Justin Fields market value, right?
Four years
179.5 million you'll be making forty four point nine million a year. That's really good
That's really good. That is how you are able to continue to surround them
Not only with talent but continue to keep the team competitive
To a point where they can possibly make a playoff run and eventually maybe even make a Super Bowl run, right?
I'm the reason why I'm saying the reason why I'm saying all this and the reason why I'm emphasizing
quarterback contracts is because we have seen multiple times
When a quarterback takes up a large majority of the cap space and they don't go anywhere and then you know when the quarterback, you know
Public publicly goes and says, you know, I don't have any weapons. I need weapons, you know this and the other blah blah blah
Well, you can't get you can't ask for weapons. Mr. Smartass if you got you know, if you're making, you know
54 55 million a year you can't really do anything
You just can't I'm sorry. You just cannot do it
Case in point with for instance the Chargers, right?
And I know this is probably crazy example
But with with their with their whole situation after they gave Justin Herbert that deal in
Some ways they had to break up the offense a little bit and they had to change how they did everything, right?
And it wasn't only just because they brought a new head coach and you know different philosophies and different things of that nature
But you had Kenan Allen who didn't want to take a pay cut
You had Mike Williams who could not stay healthy and he had a large cap hit
You had Joey Bolster that had a large cap hit during when James Khalil Mack
You have multiple players on that team that had very large cap hit and you're not going to give it to Justin Herbert
You can get rid of a Kenan Allen or Mike Williams. Unfortunately, and that's exactly what happened
They let my they released Mike Williams. They trade away Kenan Allen to the Bears and
Justin Herbert is there, you know with a
Average to possibly above average receiving core, right? So I say all that to say this
quarterback contracts can get very very very very very
very very rocky
Because one or two things are gonna happen either they're gonna overpay the quarterback and then it puts the entire team in a chokehold or
They underpaid the quarterback, but they're basically telling him hey by us underpaying you
It allows us to surround you with the talent that you need, right?
And so, you know moving on to the to the next topic because I don't I don't want this
I don't want this episode, you know to be longing and in drawing out and whatnot, but when you look at future quarterback contracts, right?
The quarterback market is starting to get that reach that point where it's out of where it's gonna go, you know out of hand
And I understand, you know, the league is making a lot of money
They've recovered from the COVID years and whatnot and it shows, you know with with the with the cap calculations because
Originally a lot of people were reporting that it wasn't going to be as much as you know as it was, you know
Reporting but once they did see it and it's like oh, okay. That's when a lot of teams were like, okay
We can start showing our money. We can start paying players because originally
You know after after the after 2020
There was a point where not not as many teams were willing to
Really pay, you know a lot of players
Simply because everybody was still recovering from COVID and then, you know, the numbers were down
So that meant that the revenue for the league as a whole was down
So it was a lot of mo it was multiple factors that played in, you know
People not getting, you know crazy contracts, but now that we've you know past that phase
And you have someone like Taylor Swift that's starting to you know bring her
Her following over into the league that's gonna boost revenue and so was and so the trickle down effect is bigger contracts
And it's show in this offseason alone, right now and and I've had this conversation
With my friends, you know shout out, you know, shout out to everybody that you know
That supports me and supports the podcast that it's gonna get someone is gonna hit the $60 million mark mark my words
It may not happen this year, but I guarantee it. I
Would not be surprised if next year's free agency market. Somebody hits that $60 million market
Now do I know who it is? I wouldn't be surprised if it's deck. I just don't I would not be surprised
simply because I think I think the dolphins are not gonna
You know, they're not gonna really want to pay to I think they're gonna want to ride this season out and see if he can
You know show another year of consistency and not you know being not being hurt
Then they you know, then they'll probably you know, right, right and right to check
But to say that they're gonna like go over leaps and bounds to pay him. No, they're not gonna do that
Same thing with Justin Fields. I think he's not gonna he's gonna get paid, but he's not gonna get paid paid
But I do think that is probably gonna be the only person
That's really gonna get close to that $60 million range and even then I think the only teams
I probably would do that our teams that are going through rebuild struggling and they're in a position where you know on the draft board
Where they will not be able to get a high-end quarterback someone like a deck presscott
But yeah, that's it
It's a it's a weird situation and it's an I wouldn't say it's frustrating
but it's just weird because
We have seen the model of when when the quarterback takes less
It allows the team to build around them and to you know keep them competitive
and we've also seen the model of overpay the quarterback and
You know, it basically just goes to shit, right?
We have seen both models and you would think that you know quarterbacks would you know want to get paid
But at the same time not break the bank, but it's clearly it shows otherwise and you know
Nothing and that's you know, it's nothing against them because again, you you want to get paid
This is probably gonna be
Your only or your or your second to only chance of you know, really, you know getting a significant payday whatnot
So not opposed to that but at the same time if you want to be able to win a championship
And that's your goal that your dream within sacrifices are gonna have to be made
Simple Tom Brady was not the highest paid quarterback, you know all those years. He wasn't he took pay cuts multiple pay cuts and
You know it paid off because he won six championships with a Patriots and then he won
One with the Buccaneers and now he's the greatest quarterback of all time now. I'm not saying that you know if quarterback does that that they're gonna follow
the same path as a Tom Brady, but
The but but to say that you know, you didn't see a difference with them surrounding him with talent
That is true. That is definitely true
But I'm gonna end this right here
Just you know, just something just something to hold you guys over just something for you guys to think about
You know going into the weekend and whatnot if you guys like what you guys are listening to please please please please please
Download the episodes give us a five-star review if possible
On your you know, whatever wherever pot podcasting street for
Streaming platform that you guys listen to where that be Apple podcast Spotify, whatever the case may be
Follow us on Instagram at football
Underscore junkies pot again that is football underscore junkies pod also
Also, also also if you have not heard we have our audio episodes on the
On our YouTube page at football junkies pot again, that's football junkies pot
Tick tock on content coming out soon. We're trying to work through the you know, the ins and outs and that trying to get everything set up
I do know that the league is gonna be sort of going on a break for like six weeks
You know, this is sort of the the drought period the last drought period before things really start ramping up
So we're gonna try to see if we can put out some content
Probably maybe have some special guests things are things are gonna get done
We're gonna we're gonna get through this. Okay, we're gonna weather this storm. Okay, and as always
I hope I gave you guys the fix that you guys need and love
Just as much as I do. I love you guys. Peace out
You