In late April of last year, Baltimore Ravens franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson became the highest paid player in National Football League history. He passed up Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to become the first NFL player with a $52,000,000 annual salary.
However, he did not hold the top spot very long. In just 15 months, he’s fallen from number one to number seven on the list of highest salaries in the league. How’s that for a rate of inflation? If only our salaries grew at a percentage on par with those of pro franchise quarterbacks.
It is widely expected that Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers will be the next to make the QB rich list. Most NFL insiders believe he will sign a lucrative contract extension after this season. He could honestly become one of, if not the highest-paid player in the National Football League, but first he needs to have a 2024 season that is on par with how his 2023 turned out. Another stellar campaign and he’ll start to change perceptions. And as RG.org points out, the media is doing Purdy no favors at all right now towards changing public perception of him.
Eventually though, it appears that Purdy will get a new deal that breaks the bank, and with it, maybe he even joins the “$55,000,000 per year” club.
That’s the benchmark for the top spot right now, and it consists of just three members: Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals), Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers).
No members of that triad have ever won a NFL MVP award, like Jackson, who has won two. Neither have any of the trio sandwiched in between them and the Ravens QB1: Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins), Jarred Goff (Detroit Lions) and Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers).
None of the six players who are paid at a higher rate than Jackson have set any kind of major record, or achieved any sort of ultra-superlative individual honors either.
Meanwhile Lamar Jackson has the most all-time single season rushing yards by a quarterback milestone to his credit.
We’re not implying that Lamar Jackson is underpaid, not by any means. But his example conveys just how extreme the market momentum is right now. it doesn’t show any signs of stopping, as the top eight salary deals were all signed in 2023 or 2024.
And it has now led to some signal callers with less accomplishments, getting paid much better than than the guys with more accomplishments.
Of course, Purdy does have a conference title to his credit, something Jackson does not. And if he wins a Super Bowl, then you know who is going be able to play monopoly with real cash.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.