May 06, 2016
Rich Schultz/AP
Carson Wentz is a $26.7 million dollar franchise quarterback, which is actually incredibly cheap.
On Thursday, former football agent and current sports money analyst for CBS Joel Corry laid out seven financially related implications of the NFL Draft. One of them caught my eye.
With the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott. It turns out that Elliott will be the ninth-highest paid running back in the NFL without ever having played a professional snap. Per Corry:
The rookie wage scale implemented by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2011 is designed to prevent top draft picks from being paid like highly productive veterans as unproven commodities. Ezekiel Elliott, the fourth overall pick by the Dallas Cowboys, may be the one exception because of the economic downturn with running back salaries.
The Ohio State product is expected to sign a fully guaranteed four-year, $24,956,338 contract, which includes a $16,350,064 signing bonus. Elliott's $6,239,085 average yearly salary makes him the NFL's ninth highest paid running back by this metric. His expected contract is slightly more than the reported best offer the Cowboys gave DeMarco Murray in 2015 as a free agent. Dallas was unwilling to pay Murray more than $24 million over four years with $12 million fully guaranteed after a 2014 season in which he lead the league in rushing by gaining 1,845 yards on the ground on 392 carries, the eighth-most ever in an NFL regular season.
Because of rookie wage slotting, it didn't matter if the Cowboys drafted a quarterback, a running back, or a punter with that fourth overall pick. No matter who they took, it was going to cost them $24,956,338 over the next four years. And Corry is correct -- Elliott will indeed be the ninth-highest paid running back, by that metric. Data via overthecap.com:
| Rank | Player | Team | Avg $/year |
| 1 | Adrian Peterson | Vikings | $14,000,000 |
| 2 | LeSean McCoy | Bills | $8,010,000 |
| 3 | Jonathan Stewart | Panthers | $7,300,000 |
| 4 | Doug Martin | Buccaneers | $7,150,000 |
| 5 | Jamaal Charles | Chiefs | $6,937,500 |
| 6 | Lamar Miller | Texans | $6,500,000 |
| 7 | Chris Ivory | Jaguars | $6,400,000 |
| 8 | DeMarco Murray | Titans | $6,375,000 |
| 9 | Ezekiel Elliott | Cowboys | $6,239,086 |
| 10 | C.J. Anderson | Broncos | $4,500,000 |
As the chart above shows, Elliott is not only the ninth-highest paid back in the NFL, but there is not much of a difference between him and the second-highest paid back, LeSean McCoy, who is only scheduled to make $1.77 million per season more than Elliott. Also note the dropoff from Elliott to the tenth-highest paid player in the list, C.J. Anderson.
Applying that same concept to the quarterback position, Carson Wentz will be just the 27th highest paid quarterback in the NFL in terms of average yearly cap number.
More importantly, the gap between Wentz and the quarterbacks at the top of the list is enormous. Data via overthecap.com:
| Rank | Player | Team | Avg $/year |
| 1 | Joe Flacco | Ravens | $22,133,333 |
| 2 | Aaron Rodgers | Packers | $22,000,000 |
| 3 | Russell Wilson | Seahawks | $21,900,000 |
| 4 | Ben Roethlisberger | Steelers | $21,850,000 |
| 5 | Eli Manning | Giants | $21,000,000 |
| 6 | Philip Rivers | Chargers | $20,812,500 |
| 7 | Cam Newton | Panthers | $20,760,000 |
| 8 | Matt Ryan | Falcons | $20,750,000 |
| 9 | Tom Brady | Patriots | $20,500,000 |
| 10 | Drew Brees | Saints | $20,000,000 |
| 11 | Kirk Cousins | Redskins | $19,953,000 |
| 12 | Ryan Tannehill | Dolphins | $19,250,000 |
| 13 | Colin Kaepernick | 49ers | $19,000.000 |
| 14 | Jay Cutler | Bears | $18,100,000 |
| 15 | Brock Osweiler | Texans | $18,000,000 |
| 16 | Tony Romo | Cowboys | $18,000,000 |
| 17 | Matt Stafford | Lions | $17,666,667 |
| 18 | Sam Bradford | Eagles | $17,500,000 |
| 19 | Alex Smith | Chiefs | $17,000,000 |
| 20 | Carson Palmer | Cardinals | $16,500,000 |
| 21 | Andy Dalton | Bengals | $16,000,000 |
| 22 | Nick Foles | Rams | $12,250,000 |
| 23 | Andrew Luck | Colts | $7,652,600 |
| 24 | Robert Griffin III | Browns | $7,500,000 |
| 25 | Chase Daniel | Eagles | $7,000,000 |
| 26 | Jared Goff | Rams | $6,984,418 |
| 27 | Carson Wentz | Eagles | $6,669,085 |
| 28 | Jameis Winston | Buccaneers | $6,337,819 |
| 29 | Marcus Mariota | Titans | $6,053,494 |
| 30 | Blake Bortles | Jaguars | $5,163,701 |
The 21st most expensive quarterback in the NFL (Andy Dalton) is scheduled to make 240 percent more money than Carson Wentz in terms of average money per year.
The Eagles will eventually no longer be on the hook for Sam Bradford's contract, as that situation seems likely to crash land one way or the other. But once the Eagles are free from that deal, as long as he isn't a complete bust, Wentz's rookie contract (and the Eagles' overall pay to their quarterbacks in general) over the next four years will be very cheap.
