Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford signed a fat contract extension on Monday that sets him up to make $151.5 million through the 2022 season.
The deal sets a new high for quarterbacks and all NFL players, which will likely be temporary as other quarterbacks will move past Stafford when time comes for them to sign new deals of their own. While his place in the pecking order might change, Stafford said that the deal doesn’t change the pressure that was on his shoulders before signing it.
Stafford said he doesn’t feel much different than he felt before he signed the deal and that he has “been around this league long enough to know what’s important.”
In Stafford’s case, that’s getting the team back to the playoffs and winning a game in the postseason for the first time since 1991. That would have been true no matter how much money is hitting Stafford’s bank account, but there’s no question that the ultimate judgment on the wisdom of this deal will weigh heavily on whether he can pull those things off.
