Quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, but these five franchises deserve criticism for overpaying their starting signal callers.
Almost every NFL franchise understands that having a good quarterback is a requirement to becoming a legitimate Super Bowl contender. As a result, starting signal callers around the league are compensated handsomely. That doesn’t mean that every starter earning big money in 2019 deserves his salary.
This piece centers around the five NFL quarterbacks who are most overpaid. We start in Minnesota with a passer who was supposed to take Mike Zimmer’s team to the promised land in 2018. Instead, he barely managed to lead the Vikings to a record over .500.
5. Kirk Cousins
For the record, Cousins is the best quarterback on this list. There’s no logical debate that claims he isn’t good enough to be an NFL starter. That doesn’t mean he should be the fifth highest paid quarterback in the league with a salary of $28 million this season.
Players earning that kind of coin should have the ability to elevate the players around them. Instead, Cousins is a quarterback who does a good job of taking advantage of the talented weapons the Vikings have. There’s a subtle, but significant difference between those two things.
If he’s going to justify his contract in 2019 he needs to lead the Vikings to a deep playoff run. Minnesota has the feel of a team that can achieve success, but it will likely be based on a strong defense and a physical running game. Cousins’ inability to transcend the talent around him makes him one of the NFL’s most overpaid players.