Matt Stafford got paid

[oochymp 2,393]

Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions agree to historic, 5-year deal

7:34 AM ET

Michael Rothstein

ESPN Staff Writer

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Matthew Stafford will become the highest-paid player in NFL history with the five-year deal he has agreed to with the Detroit Lions, sources told ESPN on Monday night.

The deal will have an average annual value of $27 million, a source said, putting Stafford ahead of the five-year contract that pays $25 million annually to Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, which Carr signed last month.

A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Stafford's deal is expected to guarantee him a record $92 million, including a $50 million signing bonus. The previous record for guaranteed money issued to an NFL player was $87 million for Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts.

Under the deal, Stafford will be guaranteed $60.5 million at signing and $86 million by the start of Year 2 of the contract, which starts next March, a league source told Schefter. The full $92 million is guaranteed upon Year 3, the source told Schefter.

 

 

[ATL_Predator+ 1,196]

So now you all can bitch about him being the highest paid QB.

 

Then you can all bitch about Cousins etc.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Aaron Rodgers is gonna get 30 mil a year and that will create a cap for like a season

[seanbrock 1,684]

Stafford really stepped up his game his year with Calvin Johnson's retirement and damn near delivered the Lions to the playoffs by himself. Well deserved imo.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

I think this was the right move, things were looking spooky.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Rob Parker laying it down...

 

https://twitter.com/TheHerd/status/902606364635144192

[oochymp 2,393]

I can't stand using wins and losses to judge a qb

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

I agree in general and I don't think it automatically makes him a bad QB or anything.. But those numbers are staggering.

[RazorStar 4,025]

I don't think he should be the highest paid QB in the league, but that's just how the league rolls when it comes to paying QBs. It's not like you could go to an agent and say "ok I want this guy paid less than Derek Carr, but more than Andrew Luck" sort of thing. It doesn't work.

 

So as for the numbers. When it comes to scoring defenses, of QB's who have played since 2004 with 90 or more starts... he has the worst scoring defense, only having 46 of his 101 starts where his defense allowed fewer than 23 points. So already that's a huge knock against him. Running the numbers to determine how well he wins games compared to the average QB, he is slightly above average, winning about 0.24 more games over a 16 game season than an average QB. So yeah, he's not an absurd talent, but he'll give you an extra win here or there that an average QB wouldn't get you otherwise.

 

And for contexts sake, that number puts him at 19th out of 22 QB's I looked at, just ahead of Jay Cutler, Alex Smith, and way ahead of Ryan Fitzpatrick who generally gives you a loss more than the average QB in a season. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were 1 and 2 with +3.66 wins and +3.56 wins a season respectively.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wezMtoCffXvcLPmlYck1Flu4Si7-GRY1e9TQu2KQSwA/edit?usp=sharing

 

As for the contextual situation... the Lions have never had a QB like Stafford who compared favourably to his leagues contemporaries since what... a year of Rodney Peete? you'd probably have to go all the way back to Bobby Layne because the Lions have been cursed at finding QBs. So when they finally get a guy who has been decent for them for the first time in 50+ years, I don't fault them for trying to hold on to him, even if they grossly overpaid.

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

[ATL_Predator+ 1,196]

I'll say this about Stafford.

 

You take Stafford from the Lions and you def. don't have a Lions team that even sniffs the playoffs in the past 6 years. He does what he can without a running game, a shitty offensive line... and since Megatron... no consistent WR's aside from Golden Tate (who's not an efficient RZ threat).

 

The defense leaves lots to be desired.

 

So considering the situation Stafford could've really played hardball with the Lions and stated he's been the one consistent thing beside Calvin in the past decade.

 

 

He could've got more money if he wanted to, but chose not to.

[Vin+ 3,121]

Three of the bottom five are/were Jags. :rog:

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

A lot of you guys honestly don't know how bad the Lions roster has been throughout a majority of his career.

[RazorStar 4,025]

I did mention he had the worst defense out of any QB with 90+ starts in this modern era. He may have been throwing to Calvin Johnson his entire career, but that's about all he had going for him.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

He got better once Calvin left, dunno how much going for him that was. lol

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

I don't care what your supporting cast is. When you're in the same ballpark as Chad Henne, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Blake Bortles and Blaine Gabbert, you've fucked something up.

 

Mariota has already managed 5 wins vs winning teams, Winston 3, Carr is at 8 as shown on that list. We can argue how stupid "QB wins" are, but we all know the QB is the most important aspect to winning or losing a game if you don't have an all-time great defense.

 

The Lions rosters under Caldwell haven't been THAT bad, and Stafford is only 3-18 in the Caldwell era. 2-19 in the Schwartz era. 0-7 prior.

 

Beating winning teams only means having to beat 9-7/10-6 teams. It doesn't mean you have to beat the Packers or Patriots or some other 13-3 team for it to count.

 

5-46 is unfathomably bad, regardless of supporting cast. That would only be acceptable assuming the Lions had the worst roster in football in a year in, year out basis, and that's quite clearly not the case.