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If my boss had approached me at the office and said, “Swami – we want to keep you here for the next five years. We’re going to offer you an annual pay of “X” – all guaranteed up front – no matter how well you perform your job for us!”
Where do I sign?
In professional sports, the athletes are demanding and getting longer contracts with up to 100% of their total pay being guaranteed. In sports, the risk of serious injury is much higher than an office cube resident like me whose biggest trouble might be calling-in sick with a stomach bug or a nasty cold.
A month into the 2024 NFL season, many highly paid football players aren’t exactly delivering results to justify their very expensive guaranteed contracts.
You can’t blame the players for asking for these deals. NFL owners seem willing to do this in order to retain their biggest stars and, of course, to keep those season ticket orders filled.
The cost of these contracts will eventually be borne by us, the consumers of professional sports. Even if you never buy a ticket to a game or any of the team’s overpriced merchandise, the team will still earn a windfall from network television revenues.
As long as we continue to watch the games, of course.
Advertisers covet passionate sports television viewers – primarily males in the age 25-49 bracket
That age group is most likely to buy a house and spend even more money with retailers in order to furnish it. Don’t forget the need to buy that new minivan for a growing family or that sports car as a status symbol for being a successful single professional!
I don’t feel sorry for any team owner if the player with the recently-signed big money guaranteed contract isn’t leading the team to victory.
As long as the owners can squeeze enough money from fans to cover their annual cost of team operations, the value of major league sports franchises continues to rise at a higher annual rate than our 401(k) does.
In 2024, most of the top NFL players with the biggest guaranteed contracts are not producing positive results
The ten NFL players with the largest guaranteed contracts are, for the most part, underperforming in 2024. Let’s reveal the list:
- Dak Prescott – QB – 2-2 Dallas Cowboys – $231 million guaranteed
- Deshaun Watson –QB – 1-3 Cleveland Browns – $230 million
- Joe Burrow – QB – 1-3 Cincinnati Bengals – $219 million
- Justin Herbert –QB – 2-2 Los Angeles Chargers – $218 million
- Trevor Lawrence – QB – 0-4 Jacksonville Jaguars – $200 million
The next five are all quarterbacks, too. Lamar Jackson (2-2 Baltimore Ravens) has a guaranteed deal worth $180 million. Then it’s Jalen Hurts (2-2 Philadelphia Eagles with $179 million guaranteed, Jared Goff (3-1 Detroit Lions) at $170 million, Tua Tagovailoa (1-3 Miami Dolphins) at $167 million and Jordan Love (2-2 Green Bay Packers) at $160 million.
Did you notice that there is just one player (Jared Goff) who plays for a team with a winning record through the fourth weekend of play?
In case you were wondering, quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the 4-0 and two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs came in at #13 on the guaranteed money list at $141 million.
Does the player’s mentality change with the guaranteed money or did the contract render the team cash poor?
That’s a tough question to answer.
If my boss offered me a new five-year guaranteed deal to work at the office, it’s possible that I would (perhaps) be a little less likely to try as hard as I had before. It’s only human nature to pat yourself on the back once your bank account indicates more long-term financial security.
Then there is the potential for backlash from your co-workers. Using my office example, fellow workers in my group might show some resentment if the details of my new “deal” somehow leaked out.
Unlike at my office, these whopping new guaranteed contracts of sports stars will become public knowledge rather quickly.
The group of highly paid (guaranteed contract) NFL quarterbacks may earn as much or more than the combined pay for the center, two guards, and two offensive tackles on the same team. Those are the guys whose jobs require them to block oncoming defensive players from hitting the uber-expensive quarterback.
For “average” workers like us, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for these top athletes being paid a guaranteed amount which far, far exceeds our potential career earnings.
Still, football players are at risk every time they set foot onto the field. After their playing days end, long-term health issues including CTE can render this financial pot-of-gold relatively useless if the former player’s health deteriorates after retirement.
Today’s top quarterbacks are being paid upwards of 25% of their team’s payroll
There are 53 players on the active roster of every NFL team and another 17 on the so-called “practice squad” in reserve.
Many of the top NFL quarterbacks are earning from 20-25% of the entire payroll of their 53-player team.
No one doubts that a proven winner and difference maker like Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes may be worth it to the Chiefs.
With three Super Bowl rings in his seven NFL seasons, Mahomes is one special player.
Let’s now discuss quarterback Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott recently signed a 4-year extension worth $60 million per season to become (for now) the NFL’s highest paid player.
His new deal is guaranteed whether the Cowboys win or lose and whether he plays well or not.
This seems to be quite a risk for team owner Jerry Jones to be making. Will this investment in Dak Prescott pay off?
After Prescott signed his new deal before the start of the 2024 season, the Dallas Cowboys are currently 2-2. The fans in Dallas are desperate to return to a Super Bowl soon. They haven’t played in a Super Bowl game since January, 1996.
Dak Prescott’s career statistics confirm that he is an upper-tier NFL quarterback. He has led the Dallas Cowboys to the playoffs five times in his eight years (going 2-5 in the playoff games).
Unfortunately, the likeable former Haughton (LA) High School and Mississippi State signal caller has yet to lead Cowboys to even the NFC Championship game during his eight year career in Dallas.
Does Dak Prescott feel any additional pressure to perform at a higher level after receiving such a lucrative contract extension?
“I don’t think it has as much to do with the franchise [quarterback] or the contract as it is who I am and what I’m capable of doing,” said Prescott this week. “So, to me, it’s about going out there and being my best and preparing my best to be able to go and do that. And contract or not, those are the expectations, standards that I have for myself.”
Why am I remembering Tom Brady right now?
During his lengthy 23-year NFL career, former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was never the highest paid player in the league. He won six Super Bowl titles in New England and one more at Tampa Bay as part of a record ten appearances in the NFL’s season finale.
Back in 2017, Tom Brady was paid less than NFL quarterbacks named Andy Dalton, Sam Bradford, and Ryan Tannehill (none won a Super Bowl for their teams). Eli Manning of the New York Giants (with two Super Bowl rings) earned more money during his 16-year career than the man generally thought of as the NFL’s greatest quarterback.
Perhaps Tom Brady was totally fine with his pay and wanted his team to have more flexibility to offer money to other players who could help his teams win championships.
Based on Brady’s results, perhaps he was onto something.
Being the highest paid player in the league rarely results in a title for your team
A good agent will push to get the best deal for the player. It isn’t the player’s fault when they are lucky enough to sign such a contract and assume the mantle of “Highest paid player in the league”.
It does make that specific player a bigger target, though. Opposing teams know how important he is to the team and will focus on disrupting his impact in the game.
Let’s not forget that the new guaranteed contract for the team’s quarterback might become an issue with other players on your team. In some cases, a teammate may hear, “Sorry, bud. We are out of money to negotiate with you after making that big new deal with the quarterback.”
Let’s keep an eye on this upper tier of quarterbacks with guaranteed contracts for the remainder of the 2024 season.
It will be interesting to see how many of them will be able to turn things around this fall and lead their teams into the playoffs come January.
Better yet, will we see any of these quarterbacks in the season finale at the Superdome in New Orleans next February?