It was a wild offseason in the NFL. Just days before the start of the preseason, with the exception of Daniel Prescott And Brock Purdyalmost all NFL franchises have agreed to long-term contracts with their quarterbacks. It is ironic to see two players who finished second in the MVP voting last season still waiting for a contract while younger QBs like Jordan Love And Tua Tagovailoa have bagged huge expansions.

Quarterback contracts have always been large. After all, it is the most important position on offense. Historically, the market has rebalanced more frequently compared to other positions. Looking at the market more recently, the market has rebalanced almost every other year since 2013.

From statistics from About the cap, Aaron Rodgers has been responsible for setting the market three times since 2013 and after 2016, Andrew Luck further boosted the market with his $24.6 million per year deal. Since 2017, the market has reset every year. In June 2017 Derek Carr signed a $25 million per year contract with the Raiders and within 22 months the QB market grew by $10 million.

The Patrick Mahomes deal was expected to completely change the quarterback market. And it did, but not to the extent that fans expected. While his 10-year, nearly half-billion-dollar deal is unprecedented in league history, it is a team-friendly deal in the long run.

The deals that really shook up the market were Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed $230 million deal and Russell Wilson’s 5-year, $242 million deal with the Broncos. Since then, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, Daniel Jones and Jared Goff have increased the cap on QB contracts.

The average annual salary of a starting quarterback is currently an incredible $40 million.

In 2017, the highest-paid quarterback earned $25 million, and just seven years later, nearly 19 starting quarterbacks in the NFL earn significantly more than that amount. This offseason, the contracts of Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence have changed the trajectory of the market. While this is good news for quarterbacks like Brock Purdy and Dak Prescott who hope to ride the wave, it is concerning for players at other positions.

While quarterbacks enjoy a monopoly on extremely good pay, the next highest-paid player in the NFL would be Justin Jefferson, the NFL’s best wide receiver, who signed a $140 million contract with the Vikings and is valued at $35 million per year. For comparison, Daniel Jones makes $40 million per year and is not among the NFL’s top 15 quarterbacks.

One could argue that comparing quarterback salaries to other positions is like comparing apples and oranges, but the role of defensive linemen, linemen and tight ends cannot be ignored. The fact that teams are willing to overpay for quarterbacks while running backs and tight ends continue to be underpaid while doing more is ridiculous.

Things are getting worse on defense. DTs and defensive linemen continue to earn an average of $12 to $15 million per year. The highest paid DT is Chris Jones the Chiefs, who earns $31 million a year.

The growing discrepancy between quarterback contracts and those of the other positions will hurt the latter. The current system undermines the value and talent of positions other than quarterback. With the market constantly rebalancing, the NFL and team owners will likely consider capping quarterback salaries.

The next CBA isn’t until 2030, but given the way the market is going, it’s very likely that a cap will be put in place. The cap could be to prevent teams from offering quarterbacks contracts that make up a certain portion of the team’s salary cap. But such a move would be easier said than done. It’s not clear how the NFLPA would handle such an idea. On the one hand, this move would negatively impact quarterbacks, but it allows teams to compensate other positions well.

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