Clint Lamb
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Everyone knows by now that OutKick founder Clay Travis likes to go bold. Go big or go home, right?
Well, Clay went big on his radio show, OutKick the Coverage, this morning. With where TV deals are heading for the NFL, the salary cap is going to blow up in the coming years. So, whom does Clay think that increase will benefit the most? Quarterbacks.
“If the NFL salary cap is going to go, which I believe it will, to $250 million or more, then ultimately quarterbacks are going to be the massive beneficiary here,” Clay predicted.
His reasoning makes sense. We’re already beginning to see it. The lopsided salary comparisons between quarterbacks and other position groups has already gotten out of hand, and it’s only going to get more lopsided.
So, how far does it go? Well, Clay believes it’s possible for quarterbacks to become billionaires off playing football alone. In fact, he’s predicting that annual salaries for the top players at the position could reach $100 million within the next decade.
“With the direction quarterback salaries are going, and I don’t think this is an exaggeration at all, we are going to have quarterbacks in the NFL who become billionaires off of playing football,” he added. “That’s going to happen. If you look at how many years these guys are going to be able to play, it would not stun me if in a decade, we have got quarterbacks making almost $100 million a year.”
That is insane to think about, but it’s not farfetched at all.
Elite quarterbacks such as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning made between $18-23 million annually only a decade ago. We’ve essentially doubled that over the last 10 years.
If you double the $40-45 million annual contracts for Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes, where does that leave you? See, doesn’t seem so improbable now, does it? Make sure you’re tuning into OutKick the Coverage every Monday through Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. ET on Fox Sports Radio.
Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
unless salary caps keep increasing those levels not gonna = winning….
Hey Clint,
I’m sure Clay understands “inflation”. It sounds as if he thinks QB salaries exist in a bubble and they will become MEGA RICH when the cap blows up.
Maybe so (I doubt it) but if that scenario comes to be then the vast majority of Americans will become MEGA POOR. And hopefully Clay won’t bitch about $10 for a loaf of bread and $20/gallon for gas, because Jere’s gonna have to jack up his oil prices to pay the next version of Dak.
Lets see here Watson and Prescott 40mm a year SB titles/appearances between them ZERO now Brady 25mm a year SB rings SEVEN SB appearances TEN will let the numbers speak for themselves.
QB salaries can explode, it’ll just come at the expense of other positions (assuming a hard cap).
Now, the winning part is a different story. Not only can other positions win more with Brady (as example), they can also make more because he doesn’t take a max deal. That will be a strategy going forward. Dak, Deshaun, Russell don’t seem to get it. Mahomes may soon see it too with fewer weapons.
It’ll be interesting how the max QB situation plays out…..not hard to foresee locker room issues down the road when diva WR’s and great DE’s see their salaries suppressed.
NBA salaries are killing that league.
NFL salaries won’t, because national tv money will simply create a new lower tier of teams. every year several teams paying QB’s the equivalent of the Tampa Rays entire team payroll will be in cap hell for several years and we’ll have 5 teams with 12 wins every year and 5 teams with less than 3 wins. every year until Patrick Mahomes wins 8 super bowls by himself. 🥸