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Sam Bradford is the money man in St. Louis.
When he's not dating models and throwing money to buy all the ping pong tables in St. Louis, he's busy being the Rams franchise quarterback. Being the last number one pick under the old CBA, Sam Bradford earned the last big #1 overall contract to be given in any draft from now on. It makes sense, because NFL teams had to get tired of given out contracts like Bradfords' 6-year, $78 million. The Rams were just lucky enough to be the last of the worst teams under the expired CBA.
Why is this being brought up? Because besides Bradford's play, how much he is getting paid has been an issue brought up by Rams fans. Personally, I don't have a problem with Bradford being paid a lot of money. Because he was the number one pick that year and the Rams being the worst team in the draft, they had to draft him.
But, not wanting to open up a can of worms, what really matters in a quarterbacks contract (in my humble opinion) is the cap hit. He could be making $200 million, but as long as the Rams can work with his cap hit, it should be fine.
Let's look at the cap hits, courtesy of spotrac.com
Rams cap hits
| PLAYER | POS. | BASE SALARY | SIGNINGBONUS | OTHER BONUS | DEADMONEY | CAP FIGURE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortland Finnegan | CB | 9,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 5,000,000 | (18,000,000) | 15,000,000 |
| Chris Long | DE | 13,250,000 | - | - | (13,250,000) | 13,250,000 |
| Sam Bradford | QB | 9,000,000 | 3,594,800 | 200 | (23,285,000) | 12,595,000 |
| James Laurinaitis | LB | 1,000,000 | 400,000 | 11,000,000 | (12,600,000) | 12,400,000 |
| Quintin Mikell | S | 6,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000 | (6,000,000) | 9,000,000 |
Bradford doesn't have the highest cap hit this season, but the next two seasons as we enter the end of his contract his cap hit shoots up to $17+ million in 2014, and $16+ million in 2015. In those two seasons he is slated to have the highest cap hit, easily.
Now let's look at the quarterbacks
2013
 |
Tom BradyatQuarterback | $21,800,000 | |
 |
Eli ManningatQuarterback | $20,850,000 | |
 |
Matthew StaffordatQuarterback | $20,820,000 | |
 |
Peyton ManningatQuarterback | $20,000,000 | |
 |
Ben RoethlisbergeratQuarterback | $19,595,000 | |
 |
Drew BreesatQuarterback | $17,400,000 | |
 |
Philip RiversatQuarterback | $17,110,000 | |
 |
Tony RomoatQuarterback | $16,818,835 | |
 |
Carson PalmeratQuarterback | $15,335,000 | |
 |
Kevin KolbatQuarterback | $13,500,000 |
Sam Bradford isn't on there. But damn the Cardinals hurt themselves, paying Kolb like he's a good quarterback.
2014
|
Tom BradyatQuarterback | $21,800,000 | |
|
Eli ManningatQuarterback | $20,400,000 | |
|
Peyton ManningatQuarterback | $20,000,000 | |
|
Matthew StaffordatQuarterback | $19,320,000 | |
|
Drew BreesatQuarterback | $18,400,000 | |
 |
Sam BradfordatQuarterback | $17,610,000 | |
|
Carson PalmeratQuarterback | $17,335,000 | |
|
Philip RiversatQuarterback | $15,000,000 | |
|
Ben RoethlisbergeratQuarterback | $14,895,000 | |
 |
Matt SchaubatQuarterback | $14,500,000 |
Sam Bradford enters the fold as the number 6 quarterback. But, the Cowboys will most likely pay Tony Romo this season before he's a free agent, the Ravens will have signed Joe Flacco to a top 5 QB deal by now, and let's not forget that Matt Ryan has to get paid.
2015
|
Drew BreesatQuarterback | $26,400,000 | |
|
Eli ManningatQuarterback | $19,750,000 | |
|
Peyton ManningatQuarterback | $19,000,000 | |
|
Carson PalmeratQuarterback | $17,335,000 | |
|
Matthew StaffordatQuarterback | $17,271,250 | |
|
Matt SchaubatQuarterback | $17,000,000 | |
|
Sam BradfordatQuarterback | $16,580,000 | |
|
Philip RiversatQuarterback | $15,750,000 | |
 |
Mark SanchezatQuarterback | $15,600,000 | |
|
Ben RoethlisbergeratQuarterback | $14,395,000 |
Add the names that I mentioned to the list, and it more or less looks the same. But wow, I don't think the Saints will release Drew Brees in 2015.
All positions 2014 (Sam isn't in the top 10 but Suh is in 2013)
|
Tom BradyatQuarterback | $21,800,000 | |
|
Eli ManningatQuarterback | $20,400,000 | |
|
Peyton ManningatQuarterback | $20,000,000 | |
|
Matthew StaffordatQuarterback | $19,320,000 | |
 |
Mario WilliamsatDefensive End | $18,400,000 | |
|
Drew BreesatQuarterback | $18,400,000 | |
|
Larry FitzgeraldatWide Receiver | $18,000,000 | |
|
Sam BradfordatQuarterback | $17,610,000 | |
|
Ndamukong SuhatDefensive Tackle | $17,572,500 | |
|
Carson PalmeratQuarterback | $17,335,000 |
He doesn't end up on the list in 2013, or 2015.
Conclusion
If you're thinking that I'm trying to say that Bradford isn't overpaid, you're wrong. The fact is that the Rams can work with his cap hit, and it's not unreasonable.
Plus by now we have all formed our opinions on how well Bradford would play if he had more talent around, the truth is no one knows, and it's all opinion. However if Bradford throws over 4,000 yards and leads the Rams to win two more games this season, you won't hear complaints about his contract and how it hinders the team, so why start now when it's not an outrageous cap hit the Rams will be facing. Because it could be worse, they could be paying for Suh, and Matthew Stafford.
But in the meantime, don't worry about Sam Bradford enjoy his money, because when it's time for contract number two, he could be doing this during the Super Bowl parade.
