Seahawks21 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I know how much you guys love to talk about Russell Wilson. The young QB is currently in contract talks with the Seahawks. The rumor is that Wilson has demanded that the Seahawks make him the highest paid QB in the league. My post, however, is not directly tied to Russell Wilson's situation. It has long been acknowledged that you pay your franchise QB. If you are lucky enough to get one, you pay him, right? What if I were to tell you that only one time in the past 12 years has a QB that is being paid in the top-5 of his position won a Super Bowl? That's right, one Eli Manning is the only QB to get paid the big bucks and still win a Super Bowl. All the rest of the Super Bowls have been won by teams that haven't been paying their QB at that highest level. Even Brady this year is barely in the top half of starter money. The math seems easy. You pay your QB big bucks, and you can no longer afford to field the team necessary to surround him with enough talent to win a Lombardi. Sure, he'll keep you in the mix, and you'll go to the playoffs more often than not, but you will always lose to a team with a QB making much less money, affording his team to complete the roster around him. Rodgers got paid, hasn't gone back. Ben got paid, hasn't gone back.. Peyton got paid, hasn't won another one. Brees got paid, team has declined ever since. Even Brady had a 7 year hiatus because he was making too much money and his team couldn't get good enough to get back.. By this logic, if Russell Wilson gets paid this kind of money we're talking, the Cleveland Browns have a better chance of winning with Johnny Football than the Seahawks do with Wilson. Does this change the thinking of any of you that have long believed that you pay the QB whatever he wants, not matter what? BTW, not taking Slip into account, cause he's totally worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 Make that at least the last 15 years. I'm having a hard time figuring out the Elway situation in 1999. He took a paycut to help his team win, but I can't tell if this was before or after the season, and who else might have had higher salaries than his 3 million. This trend might be going back even further, even though I don't think they were as prohibitive then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin_Akie Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 In some ways it makes sense though, we've had QB's whose salary in any given season is 15-20% of the entire team's salary cap. So naturally it's going to be harder for those teams to assemble talent across the roster unless they are remarkably good or lucky at drafting. Part of the reason for the Seahawks success was the fact they had quality play from a QB who was being paid less than $1million per year so could invest elsewhere, amongst other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 I'm sorry, I got this wrong, it looks like Eli wasn't, but Peyton was in 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Often the QBs being given huge contracts have either won a SB or gotten deep into the playoffs, like Flacco and Ryan. As for my thinking, no it hasn't changed. If you have a franchise QB that has made your team a serious playoff contender you pay him. That doesn't have to be the highest paid, but amongst them at least. It also depends a lot on how important your QB is to the team, I'd say Brady, Peyton and Rodgers are all a more key piece than Wilson. Not because he isn't that good, but because they don't need him to do as much with a great defense and good running game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 As much as people like to believe it's all about winning the Super Bowl, it's not. Selling tickets is vital and having a team that has the ability each and every year to make the playoffs and a run at the Super Bowl is what's most important. It's that opportunity that keeps fans engaged and a franchise QB gives an organization and their fanbase that hope so that's why you pay the QB. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 As much as people like to believe it's all about winning the Super Bowl, it's not. Selling tickets is vital and having a team that has the ability each and every year to make the playoffs and a run at the Super Bowl is what's most important. It's that opportunity that keeps fans engaged and a franchise QB gives an organization and their fanbase that hope so that's why you pay the QB. Not to mention, if you have a really good QB you almost have to pay him big money or someone else will 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted May 14, 2015 Author Share Posted May 14, 2015 Not to mention, if you have a really good QB you almost have to pay him big money or someone else will Exactly, let someone else commit franchise suicide while you move on like the Packers did from Favre, the niners did from Montana, and the Pats did from Bledsoe, tand treat yourself to a Super Bowl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Exactly, let someone else commit franchise suicide while you move on like the Packers did from Favre, the niners did from Montana, and the Pats did from Bledsoe, tand treat yourself to a Super Bowl! yeah, piece of cake 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BA Baracus Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 mmm...cake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Exactly, let someone else commit franchise suicide while you move on like the Packers did from Favre, the niners did from Montana, and the Pats did from Bledsoe, tand treat yourself to a Super Bowl! Except I don't recall any of those teams doing that after the QB's rookie contract was up. All were late in their career, when they were at least in partial decline, and in all cases you had very capable replacements. None of which apply to Wilson and the Seahawks at this point. But go ahead, encourage your team to not pay the guy, I'm sure that it is going to go over well or have a positive result if followed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BA Baracus Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 A reasonable conclusion to draw from this is that if you are lucky enough to draft a QB who can start and play well out of the gate then you should do everything you can to surround him with talent and try to win a title. Once you pay him, it gets harder to do so. Saying that no franchise should pay their QB suggests that there are starting caliber QB's in abundance in the 3rd round of the draft, which is just nonsense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papajohn Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Wilson will get his top tier QB money from the Seahawks. It is just a matter of time and everybody knows it including the Seahawks' front office. This posturing by the Seahawks is just an annoying aspect of negotiations (at least from the perspective of the fans). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Wilson will get his top tier QB money from the Seahawks. It is just a matter of time and everybody knows it including the Seahawks' front office. This posturing by the Seahawks is just an annoying aspect of negotiations (at least from the perspective of the fans). I think the biggest problem is that the front office vastly underestimated what Wison was going to ask for. They spent too much money on Jimmy Graham and KJ Wright and don't have nearly enough cap left to sign Wilson this offseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I think the biggest problem is that the front office vastly underestimated what Wison was going to ask for. They spent too much money on Jimmy Graham and KJ Wright and don't have nearly enough cap left to sign Wilson this offseason. They'll find a way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Really think so? They've got about 8-10 million in cap room. You meed to keep 2-3 to sign replacements for injured players. Not even sure if that covers the signing bonus, let alone the salary. I think this has a good chance to carry into next offseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bud29 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 They're definitely headed towards salary cap hell one way or another - isn't Bobby Wagner still on his rookie contract as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 They're definitely headed towards salary cap hell one way or another - isn't Bobby Wagner still on his rookie contract as well? Yeah, he's got one more year left. Everybody thought they were going to try to get Wagner and Wilson done this year, but they spent all their money extending KJ Wright for huge bucks and spending all the rest on a TE that they aren't going to use, and doesn't fit their system. Irvin will be up next year, and he's gone. Okung I think has one year left. Big decision with him coming up. Speculation is that Mebane will be a cap casualty at some point, maybe Marshawn. Mebane is one of the premiere DT's in the game, that is a big deal. John Schneider(GM) has been getting huge props for keeping all of this talent, but to this point, all he's really had to do is pay everybody top-dollar (Wright, Sherman, Chancellor, Thomas, Lynch, Bennett, Avril). Now comes the really hard part and really tough decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Window is closing. Bye Seattle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Tannehill got a contract extension from the Dolphins, his contract is now 6 years with $96M total, or about $16M/year. I read in another article that top dollar for QBs is around $20M/year. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/dolphins/2015/05/18/ryan-tannehill-contract-extension-2012-draft-andrew-luck-russell-wilson/27544257/ He is the first QB from his draft class to get a contract extension, that class includes Luck & Wilson. (And OMG the Browns wasted 1.22 pick of Brandon Weeden, dummies.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zooty Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Window is closing. Bye Seattle yeah, things like paying a guy like KJ Wright won't help the cap. Too many DL making big bucks too. The secondary will likely lose Kam and Earl unless they really strip down and keep drafting really really well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughie's Tool Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 And let us not forget Wagner. Seahawks are an 7-8 win team max without Wilson. Great Defense or not. As long as he is upright they have a chance to win most any game they are playing. Without him and running T. Jackson or the likes out there? Yeah sure you betcha. They'll pay him and pay him dearly. Which he has earned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Ian Kenyon had a good take on paying a QB on twitter the other day. Link Quick rant on QB extension overreaction.... People freak out because a guy like Tannehill gets $16 million or Russell Wilson wants $20 million. What do people think is fair then? If Tannehill gets $12 million/year are people saying its fair? If so, in terms of roster construction that $4 million/year can go to pay a guy like Chris Culliver, Charles Woodson, James Laurinitis. That's the caliber of player you're looking at with $4 million. So you're missing out on one player like that to sign your quarterback. You can go bargain-bin QB and allocate money elsewhere if you want... Brian Hoyer ($5.2 mil), Mark Sanchez ($3.75 mil), Kyle Orton ($5.4 million), Ryan Fitzpatrick ($3.3 mil) and then allocate $10-12 million to a star player at another position. That will land you a guy like Julius Peppers, Julius Thomas, Branden Albert, etc. Give me the security of a good QB in that $16-20 mil range, even higher if I need to if he's a legit star like Russell Wilson all day over spending that money on upgrades at less important positions. That money is being spent anyway, spend it on the player that brings the most value to your team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Tannehill got a contract extension from the Dolphins, his contract is now 6 years with $96M total, or about $16M/year. I read in another article that top dollar for QBs is around $20M/year. man, that seems like a lot of money for him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 man, that seems like a lot of money for him Only like 25 gtd, if my memory serves me correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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