By Charles McDonald
New York Daily News
Anyone that’s telling you there’s a singular way to build an NFL team is lying to you. The AFC and NFC teams in the divisional rounds are showing the different ways to build a team around quarterback cap hits.
The remaining AFC teams are getting quality quarterback play at a discount. Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, and Ryan Tannehill have a combined cap hit this year of $12.7 million. That’s less than every single starting quarterback on the NFC side. 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has the lowest cap hit among the remaining NFC quarterbacks at $19.9 million.
Watson, Mahomes, and Jackson are all on their rookie deals. Since the NFL implemented a rookie wage scale prior to the 2011 NFL Draft, rookie quarterback contracts have been extremely easy to work around. As those three have showed this year, it’s a huge benefit for teams to have high end quarterback play on lesser contracts. Their relatively small cap hits let teams be aggressive in the offseason and throughout the season for roster management.
The Chiefs were able to sign defensive end Frank Clark and safety Tyrann Mathieu to large contracts. The Ravens signed Earl Thomas to a lucrative deal worth $13.8 million per year and recently gave cornerback Marcus Peters a three-year, $42 million extension. Houston didn’t spend big money in free agency, but they went all in on trades in the offseason, acquiring Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills, and Gareon Conley for a boatload of picks to try and maximize their window this year.
Attacking a perceived Super Bowl window with a rookie quarterback contract has been seen as the “right” way to build a team over the past few years. The Rams loaded up their roster with top end talent and made it to Super Bowl 53 before giving Jared Goff a record setting contract. Philadelphia spent the years prior to Carson Wentz’s extension loading up on offensive and defensive linemen —and won Super Bowl 52 with that team with Nick Foles under center.
That might be the trendiest way to build a team in the current NFL, but once those teams get to the point of paying their young superstar quarterbacks they’re going to have to do it. That’s where the NFC teams have provided the blueprint to staying relevant with an albatross figure at quarterback.
Seattle made Russell Wilson the highest paid player in the NFL with a deal averaging $35 million per year. Aaron Rodgers’ average salary is $33.5 million. Kirk Cousins is reeling in $28 million per year and Garoppolo’s deal was worth $27.5 million. As long as the quarterback is producing at a high enough level and providing value on the field that’s worth those figures, the cap hit those contracts create can be worked around. For the most part, all four of those quarterbacks spent the season showing that they’re worth the massive deals they were given by their teams.
The Seahawks have invested in skill position players to help Wilson; Green Bay used recent drafts to beef up their offensive line; Minnesota has Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, and Stefon Diggs to lean on; and the 49ers have arguably the best playcaller of this generation guiding their offense.
There isn’t just one specific way to build around a quarterback. Teams like the Giants and Jets might want to take a peek at the roster construction of the remaining playoff teams as they decide how to construct their teams in the coming years. They’re still a few years away from being on the same level as those teams, and don’t have any pressing decisions to make at quarterback, but they’ve laid out a successful template.
The golden rule in the NFL is to find the quarterback. After that, it’s about staying competitive.
