Baker Mayfield and the 2018 QB class will get paid this offseason
QB Class of 2016 (Jared Goff, Carson Wentz): $32 to $33.5 million/year
The 2016 quarterback class got paid. If you were Tom Mills, the agent for Baker Mayfield, would you be comfortable with your client getting paid less than Jared Goff or Carson Wentz? Hopefully that question is easily answered.
Jared Goff’s contract is $134 million over four years ($33.5 million per year average) and Carson Wentz is getting $128 million for four years ($32 million per year average). Both quarterbacks had their best year just at the right time: Year Three, the extension point. After that, neither quarterback has had the same success statistically, especially Wentz. Wentz is only the eighth highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, so he is not that insanely expensive.
Incidentally, though Wentz was drafted in 2016, the really big salary cap charges kick in at year six (i.e., 2021 in his case) in the typical contract. In the case of Wentz, 2021 cap charges of $34.7 million will occur if he stays on the team on his current contract.
If they trade him this off-season season, the Eagles will be charged $33.8 million against the salary cap, or about the same amount as if they keep him.
Occasionally you hear fans and media raise the point that the Browns could get burned by Mayfield the same way that the Eagles are getting burned by Wentz…better “play it safe” and jettison Baker at some point.
You have to wonder, do Eagles fans appreciate winning Super Bowls? They might not have made it without having both Wentz and Foles on that team. Wentz was being touted for NFL MVP when he went down with a knee injury, and Nick Foles stepped in and led the team to a Super Bowl win against the Patriots. Thus, Wentz has earned every penny of his extension.
Similarly, Goff was briefly a hero for getting his team into the Super Bowl LIII, only to lose 13-3 in the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever, with Goff unable to get much of anything going on offense. Since then he has been good but not great.
Almost all power ratings have Goff and Wentz rated below all three of the 2018 draft class quarterbacks. Is there anyone who would trade Allen, Jackson or Mayfield for Wentz or Goff? Probably not. Thus, the agents for Mayfield, Allen and Jackson would argue that it is crazy that they should get less than Wentz’s $128 million extension for four years.
The main argument against a vastly higher number is the Covid-related drop in salary cap.
The salary cap is going to shrink in 2021 to about $176 million from its current level of $198.2 million, according to overthecap.com. That is a real cutback of 11 percent and has to be reflected in salaries.
Let’s see how the numbers shaped up for the Class of 2017. The top dog was Mitchell Trubisky, who was not extended. He will be a free agent, and would probably be a very good pickup for someone. He has been falsely blamed for the bad offense of the Chicago Bears, but he can probably be a decent quarterback.
It will be interesting to see whether a team is willing to make him a first string offer. If Ben Roethlisberger retires, he might fit the Pittsburgh Steelers.
However the quarterbacks who were actually extended were Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes.