The San Francisco 49ers moved fast and signed quarterback Colin Kaepernick to a six-year contract worth more than $110 million which includes a record $61 million guaranteed. Kaepernick might have changed the landscape of the quarterback pay scale forever.
Now that Kaepernick has his money, what does this mean for the rest of the NFL? Quarterbacks like Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Andy Dalton, Cam Newton, Alex Smith and defending Super Bowl MVP Russell Wilson are all due for new contracts and some could argue they deserve the same or more than Kaepernick. Wilson in particular has to be ecstatic that Kaepernick got so much money as he has a Super Bowl and is just as valuable to his team.
The way the NFL salary cap is set up, the quarterback could hinder a team greatly in the way a team spends it’s money as we have seen with the Seattle Seahawks. They have covered all their bases by signing the likes of Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas before pursuing a long-term deal with Wilson.
The lack of a “second-tier” quarterback pay scale can hinder the negotiation tactics of the team as they can’t simply say their player isn't worth the $20 million a year deal. Dalton and Smith are currently going through this process as they will not settle for a $15-17 million deal and believe they deserve top dollar.
Kaepernick may have opened Pandora’s Box and with the next wave of star quarterbacks coming up on contract years, it is time for NFL teams to start signing as many of their assets as possible before the day they need to sign their guy to a massive extension.
[ESPN]
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