I know, I know. It’s another click-baity headline and just like I always do when I use one of those, I answer the question immediately. Yes, Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford is worth the five-year, $135 million contract extension that now makes him the highest paid NFL player on the planet.
I’ll explain.
No, I do not think Stafford is the best quarterback in the NFL, but that’s not how these contracts work. Every young franchise guy that re-ups becomes the NFL’s richest player. The only time it doesn’t happen is when somebody like Tom Brady signs a cap friendly deal so his team can put good players around him. Derek Carr was the guy with the biggest contract, averaging $25 million a year. His title didn’t last the summer with Stafford’s contract. Just wait until Aaron Rodgers signs his new deal this coming off-season. This is how it works.
“At certain points, at times, everything’s in play when you meet with my guys and (agent) Tom (Condon) and those guys at CAA, but in the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to be here,” Stafford said. “From the first day I met with my representatives, after I talked with (general manager) Bob (Quinn) and those guys in February, that was the first question he asked me and I said, ‘Absolutely, I want to be in Detroit.’ And you never know if that’s always going to work out or not, but that was my wish and intention all the way back then.”
Matt Stafford will be driving this to work in the morning! 💰💰💰 pic.twitter.com/ga9Nszu9sA
— TheDLine™ (@TheDetroitLine) August 29, 2017
Stafford began his career as the consolation prize for the 2008 Detroit Lions and their historic accomplishment of going 0-16, something no team had ever done before or since and, in the modern salary cap and free agency era, should be impossible to achieve. Yet, that Lions team, coached by Rod Marinelli, did it. They made history. An indelible and ever-lasting mark like someone touching the Gutenberg Bible with wing sauce on their hands.
When you look at Stafford’s career, you have to toss out the first two seasons. He got injured in both and only played three games in 2010. Early on, based on his inability to stay on the field, Stafford looked like a bust. Then his first healthy year happened in 2011 and that discussion stopped.
“It was important (to wrap up the deal before the season started),” Stafford said. “It wasn’t something all along I knew was gonna be the case, but as it got into training camp a little bit, I realized that I think we have an extremely talented team and for us to be worried about, or anybody, even myself, about my contract situation to what it was going to be, was going to be a disservice to the organization, to our team, to the players in the locker room. So I wanted to get this thing done and then kind of realized that during training camp.”
https://twitter.com/HumbleTeej/status/901113543763738628
Stafford led the Lions to a 10-6 record, led the NFL in pass attempts and completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 5,038 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Since then Stafford has never thrown for less than 4,257 yards or 20 touchdowns. For the last three consecutive seasons he’s completed 60.3 percent or more of his passes and arguably last season was his best. Hampered by a shitty team and even shittier head coach, Stafford still won nine games, completed 65.3 percent of his passes for 4,327 yards, 24 touchdowns and a career low 10 interceptions. He was a legitimate MVP candidate and if the Lions had won their last two games and finished 11-5, he might have won it.
Stafford has been hampered by something that Derek Carr doesn’t have to deal with, absolutely terrible coaching. He was addled with Jim Schwartz for his first five seasons and been stuck with Jim Caldwell since 2014. Stafford has never played for a legitimate, competent head coach, so his accomplishments should stand out even more.
I’ll be shocked if the Lions make it back to the playoffs this season. I’ll be even more shocked if Jim Caldwell doesn’t get fired at the end of it. What won’t shock me at all is for Stafford to continue to put up monster numbers and be worth every penny of this contract, even though the team has set him up to fail ever since they drafted him No. 1 overall in 2009.
Highland Park product Matt Stafford is now the highest paid player in NFL history.
Reported 5 yrs/$135M
$27M/year pic.twitter.com/NqOpTcfO1N
— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) August 29, 2017
Up next, Rodgers and Matt Ryan are both due monster deals. Drew Brees is too, but there could be a question of how much the Saints are willing to pay. They could be ready to move on and let him finish out his career somewhere else like Peyton Manning did with the Denver Broncos.
In other Lions news, the team released offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio, effectively handing the starting left tackle to penalty machine Greg Robinson. The Lions traded for Robinson earlier this off-season, acquiring the former No. 2 overall pick from the Los Angeles Rams.
Other NFL News
Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman has been cleared of the concussion protocol and will be back in practice this week. So for all you early fantasy football drafters, you can breathe a sigh of relief this time. Freeman just signed a five-year, $41.25 million contract extension with the Falcons. Last season Freeman carried the ball 227 times for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. He caught 54 passes for 462 yards and two scores.
Atlanta Falcons carries inside the 5 last year:
Devonta Freeman: 19
Tevin Coleman: 4
Terron Ward: 2
— Jeff Ratcliffe (@JeffRatcliffe) August 23, 2017
The Indianapolis Colts will be without the services of cornerback Vontae Davis who will miss several weeks with what the team is calling a “significant groin injury.”Davis has started every game in which he was healthy since the team drafted him in the first round out of Illinois in 2009. Last year Davis started 14 games, recorded 37 tackles, 10 passes defended and one interception.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have added another weapon for Ben Roethlisberger in the passing game, trading a 2018 fourth round draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers for tight end Vance McDonald. Last season McDonald started and played in 11 games, catching 24 passes for 391 yards and four touchdowns.
Even on a dysfunctional 49ers team, TE Vance McDonald was able to catch more TD's (4) than any Steelers TE in 2016
— Jimmy (@Dorkewicz) August 29, 2017
The New England Patriots traded a seventh round draft pick to the Cincinnati Bengals for running back Marquis Flowers. Flowers is 6-3, 231 and has not carried the ball once since the Bengals drafted him in 2014 in the sixth round out of Arizona.
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