The Detroit Lions are ready to sign quarterback Mathew Stafford to a nine-figure contract extension.
Nine figures means in the millions and millions and millions of dollars.
That’s the going rate for franchise quarterbacks, and has been for a while. And Stafford is a franchise quarterback, the only one, in fact, the Lions have had since Pro Football Hall of Famer Bobby Layne in the 1950s.
There are those in Detroit – many, many, many of those, actually – who openly question if Stafford is worth that kind of money.
Say what?!
In turn, I openly question their football intelligence.
The Lions have a chance to be great – notice I said “a chance” – because they have a great player at quarterback, which is the most important position in team sports. Now, is Stafford as good as Tom Brady? No, but who is in today’s game, or perhaps ever?
Stafford is pretty darn good, as evidenced by having thrown 187 touchdown passes in his eight seasons, all with Detroit, with an 86.8 quarterback rating.
If only the Lions could build a team around him with players as good as he is.
And If only the Browns had such a “problem” at quarterback.
In this total rebuild, the Browns are in the process of putting together a team that has a lot of young, talented players. There’s no denying that.
But what they lack is a Stafford-type – a franchise quarterback. Perhaps they already have one in rookie DeShone Kizer, a second-round pick in the NFL Draft, but no one knows that yet. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s certainly not Brock Osweiler, the veteran quarterback the Browns obtained in a trade this offseason. And it’s probably not Cody Kessler, who is the odds-on favorite to be the opening-day starter against Pittsburgh on Sept. 10.
As we’ve said before, while this acquisition of talent at other positions is great, and obviously necessary, the Browns’ rebuilding process doesn’t really begin in earnest until the club finds its franchise quarterback.
And if the Browns do ever get one, then I don’t think there would be anyone in Northeast Ohio, including owner Jimmy Haslam, who would question if he’s worth getting a nine-figure contract extension.
Why they’re doing it in Detroit in the case of Matthew Stafford is anyone’s guess.
