February 8th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 2:54 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:47 PM ^
Help me understand this. Stafford plays 8 seasons as a starter and is good to very good and people go crazy that he got the contract he got. Garrapolo starts 5 games and gets a better deal than Tom Brady! Blows my mind. Gotta ask...what are Case Keenum and Nick Foles worth? Cousins must be thinking north of $30 million per at this point.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
willingly so may not be the best example. But agree with your point. In a league with so many teams without a even passable QB, Stafford being a dependable "very good" is worth the money.
Someone with a five game sample set? Probably not.
February 8th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
he got a big fat bonus.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
This is because sometimes, kids inherit football teams.
February 8th, 2018 at 5:31 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 9:55 PM ^
....so I guess a 5-46 (9.8%) record against .500 teams is good enough for being the 2nd highest paid player.
Please, lion/stafford apologists will keep going back to defend him and say - a) he wasn't surrounded by good players, b) didn't have good coaching, c) bad management, but when do people realize that when it counted most (against good teams) a qb at his pay level needs to sometimes put the team on his shoulders and get it done!
Please don't keep quoting the number of come from behind wins as they were a) not against good teams - ok MAYBE 5 were and why were you behind these generally bad teams and needed to come from behind in the first place???
Finally, if any Michigan qb was winning against .500 teams at a 9.8% clip, we would be having a revolt on this board!
February 9th, 2018 at 5:11 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 5:34 PM ^
I also agree with the poster below: petulant children (of any age, Dan Snyder) running a team is rarely a recipe for success.
February 8th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:09 PM ^
I would too. It's ridiculous, though, that he was ever the highest paid QB.
I don't think it's so ridiculous that they should've have signed him--most of us have waited our entire lives for a franchise QB, and Stafford may not be perfect but he's the guy--but we can lament the cost all the same.
Honestly, the only guys who deserve that kind of money are the guys who make their teams playoff and Super Bowl contenders every year no matter what spare parts they have on the roster. And, really, the only guys who do that are Brady, Rodgers, Brees, and... that's it? Maybe Ryan or Newton?
February 8th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
Contracts for franchise QBs are booming because of a very small supply and Stafford just happened to sign his contract at the right time to be the highest paid guy. Now you'll see other QBs gradually pass him as their contracts come up. Like it or not, finding a good QB is the hardest position to fill in the NFL and the guys who are good QBs get paid accordingly (and if Lions fans don't want to pay Stafford like that, I could probably name 10-15 teams who would gladly take him off your hands today)
February 8th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
And those first two guys have taken cap-friendly deals (with what I assume are a lot of back-door deals for additional revenue streams after they are gone) to help their team. But even then, Brady made something like $21MM last year to Stafford's $27MM. So it's not like anyone is going home hungry.
Bress also went 7-9 for 3 straight years before last year's run. Stafford isn't a top-5 QB, but he's been a solid to very-good player basically his whole time in Detroit despite not having a ton of weapons (save Megatron) and virtually no running game.
February 8th, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
Holy piss! That is a ton of money. I would certainly be happy with merely three quarters of that pay.
February 8th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
My god, man... I could probably make do with 74%
February 8th, 2018 at 3:21 PM ^
2% of that and I retire like right now. oh boy!
February 8th, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:03 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
And the bears defense was actually solid all year, I believe they were like 6th in points allowed. Yes, Houston's D was very bad.
February 8th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
Don't let facts get in the way of a good story!
February 8th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
I don't get why people complain about big contracts in sports. Don't you know how valuable the league and the teams are? And further, don't you know how valuable a good QB is in today's league? If they can afford to pay Jimmy G this and still keep a competitive roster then what's the problem?
The team is valued at $3 billion and makes over $100 million profit each year. Plus the owners want to WIN
February 8th, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
I don't think it is the case anymore that people resent athletes making big money. That ship sailed decades ago; people believe athletes should make the money they're worth and accept it.
There are two issues here: 1. Money relative to equivalent players. JG is the highest paid QB in the NFL despite neither being a high draft pick nor having started a complete season. 2. Salary cap, the ever-present reality of the NFL, where a highly-paid player is taking money that someone else won't be able to get. The 49ers have just gambled their next five years on Garoppolo being great, at the expense of the rest of the roster.
February 8th, 2018 at 3:47 PM ^
49ers are known for their adeptness in making strategic decisions
February 8th, 2018 at 4:14 PM ^
February 9th, 2018 at 1:49 PM ^
stephenjking - you misunderstand the concept of the market. being a high draft pick doesn't matter. having started a whole season doesn't matter. What matters is the market for decent to good QB's in the NFL. They are scarce and are paid accordingly
February 9th, 2018 at 11:12 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
On a blog that has been ravaged by dumb comments the past few days, you certainly are vying for "dumbest comment of the day" award. Congrats.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
James Richard Garoppolo, undefeated quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, a team currently coached by Kyle Michael Shanahan and previously coached, from 2011 - 2014, by James Joseph Harbaugh.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^
Where is San Francisco located?
Why are they named the 49ers?
What sport do they play?
Are those years BC or AD?
February 8th, 2018 at 3:02 PM ^
contract pretty soon. He'll get at least 28 million per year.
2019, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan are next in line. I would expect Rodgers to get 30+ million per year.
Lions really got Stafford on a hometown discount where Stafford could've held out for 30 mil per year.
February 8th, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 3:51 PM ^
His three playoff games? At New Orleans, Dallas, and Seattle. Not exactly easy places to win.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:13 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 7:21 PM ^
Ok, a couple of things this brings up. Starting with this: I like Stafford, I think he works hard and plays well, and despite the expense of his contract I wanted him to be signed.
Top-end elite QBs (the Rodgers and the Bradys) win tough playoff games on the road. Stafford hasn't. Fine; he hasn't had that many opportunities, either, and his teams tend to be a bit weak.
But it's quite telling that he hasn't had many opportunities. Detroit hasn't won their division in 20 years; they've hosted something like three playoff games in the last 30 (someone pipe up if I have the number wrong). This is, by the way, the fundamental argument for firing Caldwell: The Lions can't seem to win the division, and this year with a rebuilding Chicago team in the basement and the other two teams in the division missing their starting QBs, there is never a better chance to win it, and the Lions missed the playoffs entirely.
The trailer is hitched to Stafford, but somehow a team needs to be built around him that can win.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:16 PM ^
Stafford is an elite QB or at the very worst, top 7 QB in the league. There are a lot of bad QBs and Stafford is a good starting QB so he can hold out for at least 30 million a year easily. Teams would go out of their way to fork over that kind of money to Stafford.
Stafford gave the Lions a hometown discount, big time, and it's looking better as the years goes by.
February 8th, 2018 at 3:15 PM ^
I don't get it. I thought they had ability to franchise him. I would need to see more than 5 games before considering an offer like that
February 8th, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^
Agree with this but it could also piss off the player.
February 8th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins is saying "Cha-Ching!!"
February 8th, 2018 at 3:24 PM ^
Kork Coupons
February 8th, 2018 at 3:19 PM ^
Stafford as highest paid player was a hot-take jumping off point for lazy ESPN hacks. Get ready for the Jimmy G as highest paid player hot takes!
February 8th, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
nfl stinks
February 8th, 2018 at 4:06 PM ^
I bet a friend that at the end of the year, brady would retire after his 6th superbowl win, and the pats would resign Jimmy...sometimes you just have to take your L and go home
February 9th, 2018 at 12:10 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 4:10 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^