The Tremendous Bowl is upon us, with the Los Angeles Rams set to host—fairly actually, as the sport is at their residence SoFi Stadium—the Cincinnati Bengals. Some of the intriguing storylines is the battle between two former No. 1 picks. The Detroit Lions chosen Matthew Stafford primary general again in 2009, whereas the Bengals took Joe Burrow as the primary choice within the 2020 NFL Draft.
Coming into this season, the quarterbacks had a mixed zero playoff victories between them. However they’ve every received three video games and now stand only one win away from Tremendous Bowl glory.
They have the primary choose standing in widespread, and each attended SEC faculties for faculty. However how do these two quarterbacks stack up when it comes to their wage, profession earnings, and web price?
Matthew Stafford (Joe Scarnici/Getty Pictures)
Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford was born on February 7, 1988, in Tampa, Fla. He lived in Georgia for a bit earlier than his household moved to Dallas. Stafford was a extremely sought-after recruit, main his highschool group to an ideal 15-0 report and UIL 4A Division I State Championship. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper predicted Stafford can be a primary choose earlier than he even began a recreation in school—Stafford was that spectacular.
His freshman 12 months at Georgia was inconsistent, however Stafford discovered his groove in his last two school seasons. Throughout his junior 12 months, he threw for 3,459 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He set the Georgia report for landing passes in a single season, and lots of analysts—not simply Kiper—now believed he’d be the #1 choose within the draft.
That is precisely what occurred: the Detroit Lions took Stafford primary general within the 2009 NFL Draft. He benefited from the NFL’s rookie wage scale, signing a six-year, $72 million deal and securing what was then probably the most assured cash ($41.7 million) for a contract in NFL historical past. The next season, Sam Bradford surpassed that quantity, and the 12 months after that, the NFL modified its collective bargaining settlement to restrict how a lot cash rookies could make.
Stafford’s first two seasons have been marred by damage, and he solely managed 19 landing passes to 21 interceptions. Nonetheless, he had a breakout 12 months in 2011. Not solely did he play all 16 video games, however he additionally grew to become simply the fourth quarterback on the time to throw for five,000 yards in a season. He completed with 5,038 yards passing and 41 touchdowns and the Lions reached the postseason for the primary time since 1999.
In 2013, the Lions provided Stafford a contract extension price $53 million over three seasons. Throughout that contract, Stafford threw for greater than 4,000 yards each season, led the Lions to 2 playoff appearances, and reached the Professional Bowl in the course of the 2014 season (even profitable MVP of the sport).
The Lions rewarded Stafford once more with a five-year, $135 million extension in 2017. The contract included $92 million, and on the time it made Stafford the highest-paid participant in NFL historical past. Whereas Stafford’s accuracy remained among the many better of his profession, the Lions continued to wrestle on the sector. That 2017 season—a 9-7 end—is the final time the group posted a profitable report.
With the Lions shifting towards a rebuild and Stafford eager to contend for a championship, the 2 sides agreed to half methods earlier than the 2021 season. Stafford joined the Los Angeles Rams and appeared like a brand new quarterback: he threw for 4,886 yards and a career-high 41 touchdowns, whereas additionally main the league with 17 interceptions.
Stafford has made $20 million this season, and for his profession he is taken residence $246.5 million, making him the eighth-highest-paid NFL participant of all time. Stafford has a web price of $80 million. His subsequent contract may put him in rarified air; Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan are the one lively gamers forward of Stafford on the checklist, and he is youthful than each of them.
Joe Burrow
In the meantime, Joe Burrow is simply getting began on his NFL journey. He was born on December 10, 1996, in Ames, Ia. His father, Jim Burrow, performed and coached soccer for greater than 40 years. When Joe was simply 5 years outdated, he attended the Rose Bowl, and his love of soccer was born. The Burrows spent a few years in North Dakota earlier than shifting to Athens (in Ohio, not Greece). Burrow led Athens Excessive Faculty to its first seven playoff victories in class historical past and received the state’s Mr. Soccer Award and Gatorade Participant of the 12 months throughout his senior season in 2014.
Burrow began his collegiate profession at Ohio State. He served as a backup to J.T. Barrett for 2 seasons, taking part in in solely ten video games. In Could 2018, Ohio State was leaning in the direction of Dwyane Haskins as its starter, so Burrow transferred to LSU. He had already graduated with a level in client and household monetary companies, which meant he may play instantly.
LSU named Burrow the starter, and as a redshirt junior, he led the Tigers to a 10-3 report and a victory over UCF within the Fiesta Bowl. The Tigers completed sixth within the AP rankings, however Burrow was simply getting began. His senior season was the stuff of legend.
In that 2019 season, Burrow led the Tigers to an ideal 15-0 report. He set career-highs in go makes an attempt, completions, yards, touchdowns, and quarterback ranking. He completed with 5,671 yards passing and a whopping 60 passing touchdowns, solely throwing six interceptions alongside the way in which. Burrow’s 65 whole touchdowns have been an FBS single-season report. The Tigers received the Nationwide Championship, Burrow received the Heisman Award, and he was on his approach to turning into the NFL’s primary choose.
Within the 2020 draft, the Bengals made the choice official. Quickly after the draft, Burrow signed his first NFL deal, a contract price $36.1 million over 4 years. His first season began off promising, however in Week 11 he tore his ACL and MCL and was positioned on injured reserve.
In 12 months two, Burrow got here again with a vengeance. He threw for 4,611 yards, 34 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions, all whereas working behind a mediocre offensive line that allowed him to get sacked a league-leading 51 occasions. Burrow has already set quite a few Bengals franchise information, together with most passing yards and touchdowns in a season, highest passer ranking in a season, and most passing yards in a recreation, with 525.
Burrow’s base wage for this season is $2,255,006; for his profession, he is earned about $26.7 million due to his signing bonus. His web price is $10 million, and Burrow has acknowledged he plans to solely dwell off his endorsement cash, saving his on-field earnings for retirement. It is that sort of shrewd planning that might make him very rich when he hangs his cleats up down the road.
For now, he shares one other purpose with Stafford: deliver residence a Tremendous Bowl title.
