The NFL’s overpaid QB problem

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers accomplished something historic on Sunday afternoon: winning a game in which the quarterback didn’t help the team. Baker Mayfield’s career matchup with Server marked the first time since 1974 that a team had won without completing a single pass.

Tampa won because of the running game. Not every team can rely on gaining more than 300 yards on the ground or thriving in terrible situations — but Mayfield’s complete lack of impact highlighted a bigger issue we’re seeing around the league right now, where most quarterbacks are being overpaid for their lack of impact.

There are currently 13 quarterbacks in the league with $30M or more in cap hit for their respective teams. Most of those players have been incredibly mediocre this season, to the point where the money spent on them isn’t worth it. Not only do these players underperform, but the direct investment in cash and player support hurts their companies.

Beyond those five players, we could argue that Joe Burrow and the Bengals aren’t exactly setting the world on fire, needing overtime against the hopeless Titans and struggling in the AFC North. The same could be said for Lamar Jackson’s endless injury issues, Jordan Love’s inability to control his game regularly, or Sam Darnold’s inconsistency. Time, and time and again, we’re seeing big-name marquee quarterbacks struggle to adapt to the new NFL by running the ball, controlling the defense and designing certain blitz packages.

There should be an assumption that when a player on the 53-man roster is paid more than 10% of the salary cap, he can reduce that disruption, but it’s not happening. You’re out of luck unless you have Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, or a QB on a rookie contract – simple as that. Going forward, the issue is that there is no way to turn back the clock, and this should be a major concern for NFL teams going forward.

Front offices around the league are a big factor. Still The Browns were angered by Watson’s impressive fully guaranteed contract that set the market for forward quarter contracts. His agents rubbed their palms as they know him as Birdman a person He was dumb enough to fully confirm agreement, and that led to that Each QB’s want a big chunk of their money guaranteed. Also, by eclipsing the $40M per season mark as a non-Top 3 quarterback, each agent has made the argument to push their client into the stratosphere.

Without Watson’s contract, we wouldn’t see someone like Herbert sign a $262.5M deal. The idea of ​​Matthew Stafford asking for $55M in a one-year deal isn’t going to happen and maybe that means money for other positions so the team isn’t 4-4 right now. Our problem is twofold: Quarterbacks are demanding more money than ever before, and they have less impact than at any time in the last 20 years.

There is now no correlation between overall team success and stellar QB performance. We’ve single-handedly carried a team of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees — and struggling in a “greedy good” era, where QBs are happy to ask for as much money as possible, even if it makes the team weak but not as a result. Undoubtedly, every player deserves to “earn theirs,” but when someone like Baker Mayfield makes $34 million this season and does nothing, the two running backs are actually rushing for 310 yards for $8.1 million that won the game for Tampa Bay.

The NFL desperately needs a quarterback salary reset. I’m not rooting for these guys to go back to making $10 million a season because they’re still very important players on the field, but lord knows we don’t have to live in an era where quarterbacks 10 to 15 times their teammates combined doesn’t hurt the game.

The only thing that could turn the tide at this point is if we see a change in the style of running backs in how teams approach the position. Instead of drafting a QB in hopes of saddling the team for the next decade – perhaps a better approach is for teams to view the quarterback as expendable. One draft, play them during the rookie deal, then move on. We’ve seen this happen of late, and as a result the cream has risen to the top and the only guys who have received those major contracts have been turnover players.

It’s time we treat QBs the same way.

Now for Week 8 winners and losers in the NFL.

Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers aren’t a great football team, but they’re certainly taking advantage of the fact that the AFC North is crumbling around them. Yes, the Bengals won – but narrowly against the worst team in football, the Titans. The Steelers have proven impressively better than the Browns, and the Ravens no longer have anyone who can throw the ball.

Eventually, the sentiment in the AFC North changed from “this is nobody’s division” to “Pittsburgh is going to run away with this.” It’s another year where the Steelers make the playoffs, then seem like they’ll catch up early — and wonder, “How did that run happen?” We look back and think. There is value in simply passing everyone, and Pittsburgh is the king of it.

Loser: Any team that needs a quarterback right now

The NFL’s two purple teams need quarterback help, and it’s hard to see where it’s coming from. Kyler Murray was fired, barely showing in the Vikings’ loss to Detroit. Murray’s biggest issue is that he can’t consistently move the ball downfield and tends to get tunnel vision on tight ends. Minnesota’s offense is good, and they need to find a pass rusher to string some drives together.

Baltimore lost Lamar Jackson to a thumb injury for the season, and now Tyler Huntley has a turf toe. It’s all bad, and with Joe Fagono and Skylar Thompson injured, there’s no one else who can throw the ball.

The news is bad for teams looking for quarterbacks. Where does the help come from? Kirk Cousins, Joe Flacco, someone try to kick Kenny Pickett again? The cupboards are empty right now in the NFL to fill in for a quality QB to get you through the end of the season.

Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jags had a ridiculously easy schedule, with a lot of floating teams – then their only losses came to the Broncos and Texans, who are somewhat deserving. Again, you can only play the teams that appear on your schedule.

We have an AFC South where Jacksonville is headed to the playoffs, but inside we have Trevor Lawrence having a legitimate MVP-caliber campaign and a defense to watch that’s incredibly smart and can consistently give his team a chance.

I honestly have no idea if this team is competitive or fake, but they are definitely one to watch.

I don’t know what happened here. We’ve seen the most impressive quarterback this season, perhaps the most impressive of all time. Once seen as the league’s next elite player for his accuracy and decision-making, he has now turned into a dude on the bench who is having an existential crisis late in games.

This isn’t just an offense problem or an injury problem, because Herbert is playing horrible football. On both interception plays, he simply ignores the coverage and doesn’t know where to throw it, and the second is a vanilla, base-coverage-2 – something every QB should examine.

Herbert is a mess right now, and I don’t know if the Chargers can trade him if they try to get anything better than a mid-round pick.

Atlanta walked into this week in prime position to take control of the NFC South and Falcone did it. The conditions were dire, don’t get me wrong, but Atlanta didn’t do themselves any favors by struggling against a Buccaneers team that didn’t even have to throw the ball.

It takes some legendary defensive agility to know exactly what the opposition is going to do at every moment (run the ball), and they still have no way to stop him.