Newsflash: Relative to other sports, and their collective revenues, starting quarterbacks are an absolute steal, even the most expensive of the bunch. Remember, none of these deals are fully guaranteed for the life of the contracts -- unlike, say, basketball and baseball. All of these guys are potentially one hit away from the end of their career and quite possibly severe mind and body issues in their post-career lives. Their annual salaries are often dwarfed by guys in other professions who risk far less and frankly accomplish far less in relation to the overall success or failure of their franchises.
Only in the past few years have quarterbacks hit the $20M-per-season threshold. So, let's go back to 2000 -- damn near 15 years ago -- when Alex Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texans Rangers, fully guaranteed, to take him above the $25M-per-year stratosphere. Baseball owners would sell their souls to get close to the television revenue and ratings and overall economic dominance that the NFL enjoys, but they have been willing to dole out this kind of money for a long time, to players far less impactful than a Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw signed a record $30M-a-season deal this winter. Would anyone argue that someone who touches the ball, at best, every fifth day has the same impact as a premier quarterback who in some cases will have his hands on the ball for literally every offensive snap his team runs in any given season? What about that fact that a scourge, Rodriguez, still makes $27 million a season even though his team, the Yankees, would do anything it could to keep him away? Ryan Howard and Josh Hamilton are just two more players who earn more per season than any NFL quarterback ever has. Every year a handful of baseball players get more than any football player ever has, even some who are limited to a part-time role like designated hitter.
