The quarterback class of 2012, featuring Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill, Brock Osweiler, Russell Wilson, and Kirk Cousins, has generated plenty of big-money second contracts. Next up? The quarterback class of 2013.
Or not. None of the quarterbacks from the class of 2013 have earned or will receive significant contracts, barring dramatic career turnarounds. From EJ Manuel to Geno Smith to Mike Glennon to Matt Barkley to Ryan Nassib to Tyler Wilson to Landry Jones to Brad Sorensen to Zac Dysert to B.J. Daniels to Sean Renfree, not a single quarterback taken three years ago has become the kind of high-end starter who would command an eight-figures-per-year contract.
Enter the class of 2014, which has produced a trio of potential franchise quarterbacks: Blake Bortles, Derek Carr, and Teddy Bridgewater.
Bortles and Carr are closer to getting the nine-letter “F” word attached to their names, with Bridgewater possibly joining them based on what he accomplishes this year. All three will be eligible for new contracts after the coming season.
Bortles and Carr, who play for the Jaguars and Raiders respectively, also could benefit from a strategic decision by their franchises to earmark cash and cap space during the 2016 league year for the purposes of signing them after the next regular season ends. (Jacksonville and Oakland were the only two teams that had a deficit entering 2016, the fourth and final year of the current minimum spending cycle.)
Whether Bortles or Carr (or both) get as much or more than Andrew Luck’s six-year, $139.125 million deal remains to be seen. As a first-round pick, Bortles has three seasons left on his rookie contract. Carr, a second-round pick, has two.
As to Bridgewater, the Vikings likely will want to assess where Bridgewater is after the season and, if he breaks out in 2016, whether he can do it again in 2017. Regardless, Bortles, Carr, and Bridgewater are the next trio of young quarterbacks who likely will be getting long-term deals, from their current teams or someone else.