Lions and Matthew Stafford agreed to five-year contract expected to make him highest paid player in NFL history, a team source told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2017
The #Lions and QB Matthew Stafford agreed on a 5-year extension worth $135M, source said. Huge.💰💰💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 29, 2017
The long awaited Matthew Stafford contract is finally done.
The Detroit Lions are set to make quarterback Matthew Stafford the highest paid player in NFL history.
Since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2009, Stafford has set team and NFL records and taken the Lions to the playoffs three times.
Stafford is one of only five quarterbacks in league history to throw over 5,000 yards in a single season and has reached 30,000 yards passing faster than any quarterback in league history.
Stafford’s career numbers are wildly impressive given he missed a lot of time due to injury in the earliest part of his career.
He’s thrown for just over 30,300 yards and 187 touchdowns on a 61.5% completion percentage. In other words… that boy’s good.
Stafford is one of Detroit’s most polarizing athletes. The numbers are indisputably impressive, but the wins and team success aren’t there.
While leading the Lions to the playoffs multiple times, Stafford (or more so, the team) has yet to win a playoff game and didn’t really put themselves in the best position being a wild card road team each appearance.
That, of course, means the Lions have failed to win the division since Stafford has been here.
Football is the ultimate team game and it’s silly to place 100 percent blame on any quarterback for any amount of success, but the Lions clearly thought Stafford deserved the money, and when taking a look at the current quarterback climate in the NFL, it makes sense.
Just last month Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr signed a deal that put him at $25 million annually and Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins is making $24 million this year and is expected to cash in on a huge pay day next offseason.
Stafford’s new deal will put him at about $27 million annually.
UPDATE:
Matthew Stafford's 5-year extension with Lions includes a $50 million signing bonus and $92 million guaranteed, both NFL highs, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2017
Now he has to earn it. But, can the Lions monetarily afford to put up a line in front of Stafford to give him the space. Then there is the defense.
He’s good to bad rest of team all the way up to owner suck .