This week Arizona Cardinals Widereceiver Larry Fitzgerald signed a contract extension of 8 years worth $ 120 million. It was also reported that the contract consists of about $ 50 milllion in guarantees. Fitzgerald is now tied for the 5th in the current year-average and the top 4 on this list are all Quarterbacks. His contract volume even ranks among the top five concerning the overall volume in NFL history. He has distanced himself from all other current NFL WRs in terms of year-average, as the second on the list (not counting Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers) is Brandon Marshall at $ 10 million.
Maybe the focus has shifted from Quarterbacks to other playmakers. However, the last team that has won the Super Bowl without a potential superstar Quarterback were the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002. Statistics show that the NFL is still a Quarterback-driven league. Maybe it is desperate spending by a single franchise in Arizona. Maybe it is a result from the new collective bargaining agreement and the ended lockout.
Whatever the reasons are it will certainly have the effect that Widereceivers, Runninbacks and other crucial positions will demand higher contracts relative to Quarterbacks. We already saw a long holdout from Vincent Jackson (San Diego Chargers) and Chris Johnson (Tennessee Titans) is currently holding out while demanding a huge contract. My guess is that at the end of the day it will become harder to sign highly productive skill-players in the future and the Larry Fitzgerald contract might have started this.
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