http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26427917/the-11-nfl-quarterbacks-get-mega-extensions-2019
The 11 NFL quarterbacks (GOFF) who could get mega extensions in 2019
Bill BarnwellESPN Staff Writer
It's difficult to overstate just how important quarterback contracts are to success in the NFL. Finding a valuable quarterback on a rookie deal has been the
league's Holy Grail since the NFL instituted a draft slotting system in the collective bargaining agreement in 2011. Maximizing the time teams get to spend with those passers helps, but even once they get paid market value, franchises build their rosters and their futures around the contract of the guy they have under center.
Typically, we see about five to six quarterbacks sign multiyear extensions during a calendar year. This year is likely going to be an exception. I don't think everyone I'm going to mention below will sign a deal over the next eight months, but as many as 11 quarterbacks could be in line to sign multiyear deals in 2019. One or more of them will be record-setting extensions in one way or another.
Let's run through those quarterbacks and their track records, and look at how their organizations typically conduct negotiations and structure contracts to try to get a sense of what they might expect to sign in the months to come. And let's start with the guy who
just set a Tax Day deadline for his deal. ...
8. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
Remaining on his contract: Two years, about $28 million in cash ($8.9 million cap hit in 2019, about $24 million cap hit in 2020)
It's more plausible that the Rams will get a deal done with Goff. Under GM Les Snead, they have been the most aggressive team in football with regards to locking up their first-round picks after three seasons. The Rams re-signed
Robert Quinn after three seasons before the 2014 campaign, extended
Tavon Austin before the 2016 season began, then gave
Todd Gurley a massive new extension during the summer of 2018.
The Gurley deal contextualizes just how the Rams are willing to reward key contributors. After breaking out with an impressive 2017 campaign, the team still had Gurley under contract for one more year on his rookie deal before a fifth-year option and a possible franchise tag at a position where the top of the market was totally stagnant. In all, L.A. could have gone year to year with a player who had a torn ACL in his past and paid less than $30 million over three seasons. In Gurley's extension, though, the Rams handed Gurley $40 million in practical guarantees over that same time frame. One year later, while he played at a high level when healthy in 2018, there are reports that
his left knee is arthritic.
The Rams could go year to year with Goff, who would make about $60 million or so over the next three campaigns. The Gurley extension suggests they aren't worried about paying market value to a player if they think he's a star, even if it means giving away their leverage in the process. The Rams seem hypersensitive to any
argument that they might move on from their franchise quarterback. It would hardly be shocking if they came to terms with Goff on an extension this offseason, although with less than $4 million in cap space, they would have to get creative with the structure of the deal.
What his new deal could look like: Five years, $155 million with $54 million guaranteed at signing
L.A. would likely need to hand Goff a relatively small signing bonus with a larger option bonus due in the second year of his deal, which is similar to the structure of
Brandin Cooks' extension. Cooks got just a $7 million signing bonus and $11 million in Year 1 of his deal, but the Rams guaranteed Cooks' $17 million option bonus for 2019 at signing as the second installment of a bonus. The structure of Cooks' five-year, $81 million deal leaves the former Saints and Patriots wideout practically guaranteed to recoup $50.5 million over three seasons.
With Goff, the structure would be the same, but the dollar figures would be higher. The Rams could keep his 2019 cap figure low by offering a $6 million signing bonus and a $3 million base salary, which would keep his 2019 charge modest at $8.8 million. L.A. also would guarantee Goff's option bonus for 2020 at $35 million and pay him an additional $6 million roster bonus on the day that option guarantees. Throw in a $4 million base salary for 2020 and we're looking at $54 million over two seasons for him. The structure of the deal would make it difficult for the Rams to get rid of Goff before 2022 at the earliest, but it's pretty clear they're all-in with him as their star passer.
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