One stat would seem to indicate spending a ton of money on your quarterback might not be a great strategy in the NFL.
According to NFL Research, the quarterback with the highest cap hit has missed the playoffs eight of the past 10 years. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
The only two quarterbacks to make it are Eli Manning in 2016 and Peyton Manning in 2012.
Mahomes, Prescott and Brady may deserve top-tier contracts, but what do those contracts do to their teams?
Well … the QB with the highest salary cap hit in the NFL has missed the playoffs in 8 of the last 10 seasons — and the only 2 to make it lost their first playoff game. pic.twitter.com/QjfsukXZmK
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) February 7, 2020
This is a very interesting stat, and it kind of goes against conventional wisdom within the NFL. We’re always told you have to spend a ton of money on your passer.
After all, the quarterback market in the NFL is a bit of a joke. When you find a good one, you have to keep them.
Having said that, when you tie up so much money in your quarterback, there isn’t a ton of money to go around for the rest of the team.
It’s even worse if you pour a ton of money in your quarterback, and then he gets hurt. That’s exactly what happened with Matthew Stafford and the Lions this season.
He had the highest cap hit in 2019, missed part of the season and we all know how that story ended. The Lions were absolutely trash.
I definitely wouldn’t have guessed this stat was a thing, but here we are. Maybe more teams should consider pumping money into other parts of the offense and defense.
Clearly, paying a bunch of money doesn’t directly correlate to winning games.
