Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love became much wealthier individuals on Friday. The Miami Dolphins locked their quarterback to a four-year, $212.4 million deal, while Love and the Green Bay Packers agreed to a four-year, $220 million deal,
The quarterbacks have joined the short list of quarterbacks who are making $50 million annually. That list also includes Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow ($55 million), Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence ($55 million), Detroit’s Jared Goff ($53 million), L.A.’s Justin Herbert ($52 million), Baltimore’s Jamar Jackson ($52 million), and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts ($51 million).
Tagovailoa getting $167 million guaranteed makes him only the eighth quarterback ever to receive a guarantee over $160 million, joining Cleveland — Herbert ($218.7 million guaranteed), Burrow ($219.01 million guaranteed), Lawrence ($200 million guaranteed), Jackson ($185 million guaranteed), Hurts ($179.4 million guaranteed) and Goff ($170.6 million guaranteed).
Does having a well compensated quarterback equate to championships? Well, just one player inside the newly etched top 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league has hoisted a Lombardi Trophy — Patrick Mahomes, who is tied for 10th in average per year with new Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. Here’s a rundown of the highest-paid signal-callers in the league and a comparative chart of how they stack up against one another on the field.
Note: APY denotes average per-year earnings (via Spotrac).
| QB | Team | APY | Starts | Record | Playoffs | Rating | TD:INT | Super Bowls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trevor Lawrence | Jaguars | $55M | 50 | 20-30 | 1-1 | 85.0 | 58-39 | 0 |
| Joe Burrow | Bengals | $55M | 52 | 29-22-1 | 5-2 | 98.6 | 97:37 | 0-1 |
| Jordan Love | Packers | $55M | 18 | 9-9 | 1-1 | 94 | 35-14 | 0 |
| Tua Tagovailoa | Dolphins | $53.1M | 51 | 32-19 | 0-1 | 97.1 | 81:37 | 0 |
| Jared Goff | Lions | $53M | 117 | 66-50-1 | 4-4 | 93.6 | 185:82 | 0-1 |
| Justin Herbert | Chargers | $52.5M | 62 | 30-32 | 0-1 | 95.7 | 114:42 | 0 |
| Lamar Jackson | Ravens | $52M | 77 | 58-19 | 2-4 | 98.0 | 125:45 | 0 |
| Eagles |
$51M |
51 |
34-17 | 2-3 |
91.1 |
67:34 |
0-1 |
|
| Cardinals |
$46.1M |
65 |
28-36-1 | 0-1 |
92.2 |
94:46 |
||
| Browns |
$46M |
65 |
36-29 | 1-2 |
100.8 |
118:45 |
||
| Falcons |
$45M |
145 |
76-67-2 | 1-3 |
98.2 |
270:110 |
||
|
Patrick Mahomes |
Chiefs |
$45M |
96 |
74-22 | 15-3 |
103.5 |
219-63 |
3-1 |
On top of Mahomes being the only quarterback within this top 11 to actually win a Super Bowl, just three others have been to the big game: Jared Goff, Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow.
Still, this list does signal that quarterbacks are arguably overcompensated if the name of the game is to win at a high level in the playoffs. Only Mahomes and Burrow have playoff records above .500, and seven of the 11 — have records are below .500. In any event, if Tagovailoa and Love can lead their respective teams to a championship, no one will blink twice when hearing that they are among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league.
