What do Matt Stafford, Ryan Tannehill and Andy Dalton have in common? Neither of them have been able to lead their respective teams to a postseason victory. Oh, and all three are scheduled to have higher salary cap hits than five-time world champion and reigning Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady.
Stafford, Tannehill and Dalton are just three of a staggering 21 quarterbacks who are currently scheduled to have a higher cap hit than Brady. The New England Patriots’ quarterback – unless he re-structures or extends his contract yet again – will weigh on his team’s salary cap with a hit of $14.0 million.
This puts him at the number 22 on the list of highest quarterback cap hits, right between the Chicago Bears’ Jay Cutler ($14.3 million) and the Cleveland Browns’ Robert Griffin III ($8.7 million), per overthecap.com. Safe to say that neither of the two are in a league with Brady – and the same can be said about most if not all of the 21 quarterbacks who are projected to have higher cap hits next season.
It also can be said about one Mr. Mike Glennon, who is reportedly expected to sign a free agency contract at a yearly value of around $14/$15 million. Depending on the structure of such a deal, it would likely exceed Brady’s 2017 salary cap hit as well – putting the level of team-friendliness of the most decorated passer to ever step on a football field even more into perspective.
Brady, of course, has re-worked his contract multiple times over the past few years. And while he signed the richest quarterback deal in NFL history in 2010, his contracts have been among the most cost-efficient in the league. His current deal, which was signed last offseason and extended Brady through the 2019 season, is no different.
It also makes Brady the NFL’s biggest bargain, especially considering how the positional market is developing and how teams are spending crazy amounts of cash and draft capital on quarterbacks. Brady and New England have generally avoided this ever since he joined the team in 2000. And it helped the franchise build a deep roster around its best player year in and year out.
It remains to be seen if a team that potentially signs Mike Glennon – he of 11 pass attempts over the last two seasons – to a deal averaging $14 million per season will be able to do the same. The outlook of that happening, though, is not so good.