Last week, it was widely reported (and reported and reported) that Michael Vick signed a six-year, $100 million contract making him the highest paid quarterback in Eagles history. So, even if it wasn't really $100 million but more like 5 years, $80 million, anytime you can bet the future of Andy Reid, the front office and everyone else associated with the current Eagle-regime on a 31-year old, injury-prone, jail bird, quarterback who played essentially one really good half-season for the team, you have to do it. It's the biggest no brainer in the history of earth.
That's not to say we think the deal is a bad one. Nobody (even The Project) can say that definitively. When a player looks as dynamic and potentially dominant as Vick did during (at least a stretch of) last season, it seems like a good idea. But then again, it always seems like a good idea at at the time.
Now, we all know football contracts aren't worth the paper their written on and $100 million dollars isn't really a $100 million dollars. No matter how long or how much they pretend to be worth, these contracts are essentially a series of one-year deals where the only thing that matters is guaranteed money. We get all that. But still, crossing that $100 million barrier is a big deal. Doing so signals a monumental commitment to a player and teams certainly don't make that type of commitment lightly. Teams don't just go throwing around $100 million contracts that they don't think will work out.
So since Vick's deal was reported to be $100 million, why not go back and take a look at the other $100 million deals and see how they worked out? Like other things that seem awesome but later turn out not so great, we're grading the Walk of Shame/Tell Your Friends Scale.
Michael Vick - 10 years, $130 million (2004)
Might as well start with Vick's first "$100 million Contract." Vick signed this deal towards the end of the 2004 season which saw the Falcons lose to the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game and Vick appear to be developing into the player we all expected him to be coming out of Va Tech. You know how the rest of the story plays out, it's your typical boy gets involved in illegal dog fighting ring, murders dogs, gets arrested, goes bankrupt, goes to jail, gets out, actually becomes the player everyone wanted him to be and makes millions of dollars all over again. Just like a Hollywood picture.
Verdict: Perp walk of shame.
Albert Haynesworth - 7 years, $100 million (2009)
In keeping with the Snyder-era tradition of winning the off season but failing miserably once actual football starts, the Skins handed out the only $100 million deal to a defensive player ever and would have been better off setting the money on fire as part of the Six Flags Batman Stunt Spectacular. In fairness, Haynesworth came to D.C. with two straight All-Pro selections and a Defensive Player of the Year Award (from the Sporting News, at least). But perhaps the fact that his own team (the one that presumably knew him best) offered about a third of what Washington paid, should have been a clue of what was to come.
His time in Washington was largely without incident, save for the constant complaints about the position he was asked to play, the 4 game suspension of insubordination, and, of course, his inability to pass a "conditioning test" that prompted approximately 4 million people to post you tube videos proving themselves in better shape than the highest paid defender in the NFL (including a fat guy who apparently did half the test in cargo shorts). His two year combined stats in D.C.: 33 tackles, 3.5 sacks. His stats during his last season in Tennessee: 41 tackles, 8.5 sacks. He's now poised to help the Pats win another Super Bowl. The biggest free agent bust of all time.
Verdict: Walk of Shame from a seedy motel in a bad section of town, in the rain, missing a shoe.
Brett Favre - 10 years, $100 million (2001)
In 2001, Brett Favre was a 32-year old, 3-time MVP, 3-time 1st team All-Pro, 1-time Super Bowl Champion. When he was traded to the Jets 7 years later, he was a 39-year old, 3-time MVP, 3-time 1st team All-Pro, 1-time Super Bowl Champion quarterback. Favre had a great career but when the Packers lavished him with this deal, his best years were far behind him. The Pack won only 3 playoff games and, except for a resurgent 2007 season that saw the team lose to the Giants in the NFC Championship game, seemed to decline for the balance of a career where the legend outgrew the player and eventually became a burden on the organization. Favre's time in Green Bay ended in his first (of many) faked retirement and the aforementioned trade to the Jets. Maybe the progression should be expected as the Dongslinger aged but this deal was the definition of buying high.
Verdict: Tell your friends and remember the good times fondly, but admit that you stayed too long.
Daunte Culpepper - 10 years, $102 million (2003)
Oh lord. It's hard to believe that at some point in this universe (as opposed to some alternate one where his knee was never shredded and his career worked out better) that Daunte Culpepper earned a $100 million payday. But it happened and he did. After following up his Pro Bowl first year as a starter (33 TDs) with two wholly unimpressive years in which he threw more picks and touchdowns and the team failed to make the playoffs, the Vikes gambled big and signed CulpepperCulpepper improved in the first year of the deal before exploding for 4,700 yards, 39 touchdowns and only 11 picks. Culpepper seemed destined for stardom and Minnesota looked like geniuses.
And then, after a disappointing 7 game start (particularly for fantasy owners who picked him in the first round) in 2005, he absolutely destroyed his knee, tearing up the ACL, PCL and MCL, snuffing out his rising star and ending his time as an effective NFL quarterback. He would never play another game for the Vikings and, even after being traded to Miami (who chose him instead of Drew Brees due to medical concerns. Nice job Saban) and never again threw more than 5 (yes, as in the number of fingers on each hand) touchdowns in a season. Culpepper now stars for the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL.
Verdict: Tell your friends all about your super-hot girlfriend ... who died in a tragic car accident.
Ben Roethlisberger - 8 years, $102 million (2008)
Large Benjamin may or may not be a rapist. And he certainly is a creepy idiot who does dumb things like ride motorcycles without helmets. But, as much as it deeply pains us to say it, he’s also a damn good quarterback. He’s not clinical in the Manning/Brady/Brees mode but, due in no small part to the fact that defenders just can’t seem to bring his big ass down, he gets the job done as well as anyone.
If Culpepper’s deal illustrates the pitfalls of betting big on a young quarterback, Roethlisberger’s shows the best case scenario. The deal was signed coming off a Ben’s best (and so far only) Pro Bowl season in 2007. He was only 26 at the time but while he had already won a Super Bowl at that point (most would agree it was done as much in spite of as because of his play), signing a quarterback who seemed poised to earn the “winner” tag but never put up elite numbers screamed “buying high.” As excellent organizations often do, Pittsburgh identified the right player and were rewarded with a second Super Bowl in 4 years, this time very much on the strength of Roethlisberger’s play. In the two years since, Ben has shouldered more of the load on offense, made another Super Bowl appearance and, that pesky rape thing aside, become one of the top players at his position. And thanks to the ability of on-field performance to make us collectively forget past discretions MIB-style, he’s become likable again.
Verdict: Tell your friends. And, as you fall asleep at night, tell yourself he made just a one-time mistake.
Drew Bledsoe - 10 years, $103 million (2001)
It will be interesting to see how history ultimately remembers Bledsoe who had a good career for a fairly long time with 4 Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl appearance before falling apart. No matter how he's remembered though, this contract was an absolute disaster. After two consecutive seasons in which his team missed the playoffs, Bledsoe signed what looked like a lifetime deal to end his career with the Pats. Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for the Pats, two games into the 2001 season, Mo Lewis altered NFL history by shearing a blood vessel in Bledsoe's chest and thrusting Tom Brady into the starting role. The rest is history and, less than one season into his deal, so was Bledsoe's time in New England. He was traded to the Bills and missed out on a chance to be part of the sport's modern dynasty. Wally Pipp even thinks he got a raw deal.
Verdict: Walk of shame due to inability to consummate.
Eli Manning - 7 years, $107 million (2009)
Is Eli an "elite" quarterback? Is he in the "class" of Tom Brady? Probably not (or definitely not on the second one but let's not forget Brady wasn't always a statistical beast pre-Moss). But what was he supposed to say to those questions? Anyway, Eli signed a $97 million extension on top of his existing deal to put him in the $100 million club and make him, at the time at least, the highest paid quarterback in annual salary. At the time he was 28, a Super Bowl MVP and coming off a Pro Bowl season. While he tends to be mistake prone, he's a solid Top 7ish player at the most important position in football, stays healthy, never gets in trouble and is the fulcrum of the team's offense. Sure, we're biased toward our guy but if a team is going to give out this type of money, he's the exact type of guy they should give it to.
Verdict: Tell your friends and start planning your wedding date.
Donovan McNabb - 12 years, $115 million (2002)
This one is kind of ironic in a "how we all misuse the term"/"rain on your wedding day" kind of way since this whole conversation arises from the Eagles signing McNabb’s replacement. Eagle fans may have turned on McNabb since they’ve officially turned into zombies with an insatiable lust for a Super Bowl, but it’s hard to argue with this deal in any way. In 2002, the Eagles signed the then 25-year old McNabb who was coming off two 11-5 seasons and two Pro Bowls in his first two years as a full-time starter. All he did was give them another 8 years of consistently winning football in which he never threw more interceptions than touchdowns, 9 playoff victories and a near-miss at the Super Bowl. Sure he got hurt a few times and missed games and (maybe) he puked at an inopportune time and (maybe) had a hand in running the best receiver the team had ever seen out of town. That said, the Eagles definitely got their money’s worth and this may be the best deal of the bunch.
Verdict: Sing about it in a car full of differently dressed versions of Donovan McNabb.
Carson Palmer - 9 years, $119 million (2005)
Another cautionary tale. Palmer, a former #1 overall pick, was in the midst of his second NFL season in which he threw 32 touchdowns and lead the perpetually awful Bengals to an 11-5 season and a playoff berth when, on December 29, he signed this massive extension. At the time, Palmer was quoted as saying:
"Hopefully this is the last place I'll end up playing … That's so rare in this league these days. It's so rare to see a person have a 5-, 8-, 10-, 12-year career in one place. And I feel very fortunate that it looks like that's going to be my future."Ten days later, on January 8, 2006 during the teams first home playoff game, the Steelers, Kimo von Oelhoffen came in low on a rush and blew out Palmer’s knee. The Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl and, despite coming back quickly from surgery and putting up decent numbers, neither Palmer nor the Bengals have ever been the same. Palmer is now "retired" after losing his patience with the rinky-dink Bengals operation and the Bengals are holding him hostage. We have a feeling this wasn’t the “whole career in one place” he had in mind.
Verdict: Run of shame as they shout “If I can’t have you, nobody can.”
Larry Fitzgerald - 8 years, $120 million (2011)
There's a reason why most of the players on this list are quarterbacks and why the worst deal on the list was the one given to a defensive player - quarterbacks are the only players important enough to even remotely justify that type of outlay. As good as Fitz is, his 90 catches and 1100 yards weren't worth more than 5 wins last season with a bad set of quarterbacks. Maybe time will be kind to this deal but we're not bullish on this one.
Verdict: Still at the bar drinking, outcome TBD.
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