Baker Mayfield's new three-year, $165 million extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a healthy reminder that being an NFL quarterback is still good work if you can get it. There are 13 quarterbacks now making $50 million or more, and if you wonder why the Bucs felt any urgency to get a deal done rather than wait for next spring ahead of free agency, we're here to help. There'll likely be a massive wave of new contract extensions for quarterbacks in the next year, easily normalizing $60 million per year as a new plateau and pushing the $50 million gang to more than half the league.
We'll put them in three groups, generally descending, but most of them are capable of $50 million a year or much more. We also added a fourth group of quarterbacks set to become free agents who could strike it big next offseason if things fall into place, even if the actual group isn't particularly tantalizing. The Precious 2024 Draft Picks The top three picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, plus Nix at 12th overall, were all just about immediate NFL starters.
They've all been to the playoffs and won at least one postseason game — Daniels has won two, and Maye won three and made the Super Bowl as an MVP runner-up last season. Williams and Maye are still only 24, Daniels is 25, Nix is 26, and they've already combined for 180 touchdown passes in their first two years in the league. NFL draft picks are eligible for extensions after their third season, which means they could be signing huge contracts in just four or five months.
As first-round picks, their teams hold fifth-year options for 2028, so a new deal could start with the 2029 season, after a cost-controlled first five years in the league. These quarterbacks could push to get a new deal before the fifth-year options are in place. Remember how Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs waited each other out for market-resetting extensions this summer?
The same could happen next spring with these four quarterbacks, both in the value of the contract and the structure. Do they take a five-year contract like many top young quarterbacks, especially if only the first two or three years are guaranteed? Could one of them try to leverage a fully guaranteed contract like Deshaun Watson got (surprisingly) from the Cleveland Browns?
If their success continues this season, all four would be in line for $55 million a year or more. Maye has new offensive weapons to improve on what was very close to an MVP season last year. Williams can validate his 2025 breakout with more late-game comeback wins, Nix can show what he can do in a deep playoff run if he can stay healthy, and Daniels can get back to the excitement of his rookie season when Washington made an unexpected run to the NFC Championship Game.
The best of the lot, potentially a league MVP, should break the bank on a new deal that could surpass $70 million a year in new money, especially if it goes five years. Who knows what an NFL salary cap might look like in 2033 when such a deal is wrapping up. If you just presume a conservative 8% growth each year, that gets you to a $515 million cap per team in 2033.
The current $60 million QB salary on a $301 million cap for 2026 would translate to $100 million seven years later, and that doesn't even factor in the spike from new broadcast deals long before then. The Veterans Who Deserve New Deals This could be a much longer list, but we'll start with two quarterbacks who each have two years remaining on their current deals. Jackson has two left on a five-year deal paying him $52 million a year, and Darnold has two left on a three-year deal paying him $34 million a year.
Both would command much more than what they're making on the open market. Darnold was on the Mayfield track — he got a three-year, $100 million deal after Mayfield got the same. And with Mayfield getting his deal, that sets the easy minimum for a new Darnold deal if his 2026 is anything close to 2025, helping the Seahawks to a championship.
Darnold doesn't turn 30 until next June, and if you add a year of a rising market, he could easily be at $60 million on a new deal next spring. Jackson, who turns 30 in January, is a two-time MVP with a chance to upgrade his postseason résumé this season, so if the Ravens make the conference championship game or anything further, he'll be able to reset the market in a huge way. Baltimore made him the NFL's highest-paid player in 2023 with a five-year, $260 million deal.
If the Ravens give Jackson the same treatment next spring, his next deal might top $350 million. The 2023 Top Picks Who Might Be On The Cusp Both of these quarterbacks will play on fifth-year options in 2027, which will pay out $25.9 million, and both are capable of joining either end of the contract spectrum in the upcoming season. If Stroud can get back to his rookie-year stardom — Pro Bowl, Offensive Rookie of the Year, leading Houston to a playoff win — he would quickly elevate to the $50 million status and higher.
His touchdown totals have dropped in each of his last two seasons, so if that continues, Houston would logically wait another year before deciding to commit to middling success. Young is more of a question mark. He's gone from 11 to 15 to 23 touchdown passes in three seasons and led the Carolina Panthers to an unexpected division title last year.
But they did so with an 8-9 record, so for him to justify a major extension, his progress has to continue enough that the Panthers are again a playoff team with him leading the way. Do that, and he'll be in line for double what he's due to make in 2027, but if he stumbles this season, anything is possible for Carolina's future. The 2027 Free Agents To Know While the first eight quarterbacks are likely to receive a new, rich deal via extension, these seven could get a rich contract in free agency if the stars align.
And there's quite a wild assortment of quarterback talent here. Murray and Tagovailoa have already had $200 million deals and are playing on league-minimum contracts with a chance to reset themselves as NFL starters. Murray is in a much better position to do so, with Justin Jefferson to throw to and a playoff-caliber team for a potential Darnold-level resurrection.
Tagovailoa got Atlanta's starting job almost by default but still has a chance to show what he can do as well. Even with success, those two might be closer to the Darnold/Mayfield three-year, $100 million bounce-back deals, but with limited options for actual free agents, the market could be higher. Jones just turned 28 and played well filling in for Brock Purdy last year, so if he gets another window to prove himself this season, he could be coveted ahead of older, on-the-way-out options like Brissett or Smith.
We included Watson here as a Week 1 starter, but given how his time in Cleveland has gone, it's hard to see him finding success or finding a team willing to invest heavily in his future. The best of this last group will be competing directly with a deep and talented rookie class in the 2027 draft, but teams picking in the back half of the first round might not like the best of what's left in the draft at that point. Because the supply can be sparse, you really can't write any quarterback off after seeing Malik Willis get $67 million for three years this past spring with six career starts.
So if McKee can get on the field for the Eagles — that likely would require an injury to Jalen Hurts and maybe Andy Dalton — and play well, he could be this year's small-sample jackpot, with just two starts at age 26 in three years in Philadelphia.
