FanPost

Why can't we pay starting quarterbacks what they're worth anymore?

Bill Barnwell and others have blamed a lot of the Ravens' issues on the crippling contract of Joe Flacco. Jamison Hensley then made some good points, essentially arguing that at least he did something in the playoffs to earn that money, as opposed to Tony Romo and Jay Cutler.

My thing is, why do we need to give Andy Dalton all that money just because we expect him to be our starter for years to come? Why can't we give Dalton, say, $12 million a year? Just because the likes of Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers might be worth $20 million doesn't mean the likes of Dalton, Cam Newton and Colin Kaepernick have to be paid that much.

Why has the quarterback position become about keeping up with the Joneses? Most people have Dalton ranked around the 15th best QB or so. But since he's due for a contract extension and has started for three years (and had success winning in the regular season and puts up stats), he deserves the standard for starting QBs now. For instance, Josh McCown got paid about 1/5 of what Dalton is expected to get paid. I know he only had one good year, but I think a lot of players and coaches might say he is around Dalton's level. It's just, he hasn't started as much and is significantly older. In other words, there are just expectations for (relatively) young starting quarterbacks who have started multiple years, even if no one thinks they deserve the money they are allotted. I think this has to end. Especially since quarterback play isn't predictable. I don't think these teams dishing out this cash will want to be paying $20 million a year to a guy who isn't their best player if he's struggling and the team's losing.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.