NFL teams
Mike Bonzagni 7y

What every NFL starting quarterback makes

NFL

With Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders locking up a five-year, $125 million extension, let's take a look at how much every starting quarterback makes. The following tables are sorted by total guaranteed money for injury (according to ESPN's roster management system) and also include each player's average annual salary (in the case of extensions, the APY figure is based on the extension, not the entire contract).

Carr's extension gives him the second-highest guaranteed money in the NFL, along with the highest annual salary. Being a 2014 second-round pick, Carr's initial NFL deal was worth just $5.4 million over four seasons. Eli Manning's contract stands out as the worst value among this group after the 36-year-old ranked 27th out of 30 qualifying quarterbacks last season in Total QBR.

Joe Flacco's contract pays him the sixth-most guaranteed money of any NFL quarterback, but he went 8-8 last year with a 58.6 QBR, which ranked 19th in the league. Cam Newton is the only quarterback in this group who ranked lower. Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan seem like a steal at their prices: They ranked first and second respectively in passing touchdowns last season.

Drew Brees is the only one in this group to crack the top five in QBR last season, but with Brees 38 years old, you have to wonder how much longer he can keep up the elite play. Matthew Stafford and Ryan Tannehill are the only ones in this group under 30 years old.

Tom Brady has one of the most team-friendly deals in the NFL. He led the NFL in TD/INT ratio last season and ranked second to Ryan in QBR. Oh, and he won Super Bowl MVP at age 39. Despite that, he's guaranteed just $30 million, which puts him 16th among the 32 NFL starters. Age is certainly a factor in that, but Brady has yet to show any signs of slowing down.

Kirk Cousins followed a breakout 2015 campaign with a very good 2016 season, when he actually posted higher yards per attempt and Total QBR figures than 2015. The Redskins slapped the franchise tag on him for the second consecutive offseason, but Cousins should have a large multiyear deal in his future. Like Cousins, Sam Bradford is slated to be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Dak Prescott might just be the NFL's best bargain after a breakout rookie season. There is so much more talent on his team than the other quarterbackcs in this tier, but despite 29 other starters making more guaranteed money, Prescott still went 13-3 last year. The other five guys above went a combined 10-22 last year, including Brian Hoyer (1-4) and Josh McCown (0-3) who both signed new deals this offseason to be serviceable stopgaps.

^ Back to Top ^