“Jared Goff could be next to break the bank” by Terry Foster

If you have a young son teach him how to throw a football and read defenses.

At some point in life, he will not only be able to lead a football team, but if he is good enough, he will be able to hold an NFL team hostage.

Lamar Jackson (five years, $260 million) did it with his agent mother cooking sweet potato pies in her spare time. Daniel Jones (four years, $160 million) did it to the New York Giants. And once upon a time Matthew Stafford (five years, $135 million) was the highest paid quarterback in the league. Now he ranks seventh. And he might be as far down as 10th before summer ends.

Next up is Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. The Lions and Goff are already in soft talks to sweeten his $33,500,000 annual deal. Whether you like it or not, whether you believe in Goff or not, he will earn in the neighborhood of $45,000,000 a year.

It could be more.

I’ve already battled with Lions fans over this. You claim Goff is not that good. He is not worth $45 or 50 million. He may not be, but he is going to get it. The popular saying in sports is you don’t get what you are worth. You get what you can negotiate. With quarterback salaries spiraling out of control the Lions might want to save money by signing Goff before the 2023 season.

There is no rush to sign Goff. But there actually is.

The Lions expect to make a playoff push next season. If they wait until after the season the price could go up if Goff leads them to the promise land. If he falls on his face, as some expect, people will question the Lions for signing him when he has two years and $52 million left on his deal.

I’m in the camp that Goff will have a good season. He is backed by one of the best offensive lines in football. He won’t be asked to do crazy things in the passing game. Goff will be a high-volume game-manager and lead the team to wins.

That’s all the Lions need from him.

The Lions must pay either way. The price of signing quarterbacks has far out-paced inflation. Blame the Cleveland Browns who signed Deshaun Watson to a mind-boggling four-year, $230 million deal. That upset the apple cart and had guys wanting to sign for more.

“That’s how the league goes,” Jared Goff said. “Guys get paid and then 10 more guys will get paid, and then you’re towards the bottom, and then hopefully it happens again and things go like this. And yeah, hopefully I can play for a long time, and play in this league and win games and win championships and do all that stuff, and the money and the contracts all comes with that.”

Goff is awaiting his turn. Either way a very rich man becomes even richer.

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For more from the author Terry Foster, check him out on Twitter here: @terryfosterdet

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