Over the past three seasons Phillip Rivers has established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. During his first three years as a starter Rivers has led the Chargers to three straight AFC west titles, an AFC championship game and a record of 33 and 18 in the regular season. Rivers has quickly become the face of the Chargers franchise and has offered great stability at one of footballs most important positions.
River’s rookie contract expires at the end of the 2009 season and he will probably be looking at a hefty pay raise in his next deal. There have been rumors that the Chargers have already started talking to Rivers about a contract extension and that they hope to have something done before the 2009 season starts.
To see what it might cost the Chargers to lock up the best quarterback they have had since Dan Fouts (sorry Brees fans) lets take a look at the contracts for some of the other top quarterbacks in the league who have already signed their second or third contract.
Quarterback |
Contract Length(Years) |
Total Money(Millions) |
Guaranteed Money (Millions) |
Average $/Year (Millions) |
Year Signed |
Palmer |
6 |
118.75 |
15 |
19.79 |
2005 |
Manning |
7 |
99.2 |
34.5 |
14.17 |
2004 |
Roethlisberger |
8 |
102 |
33.2 |
12.75 |
2008 |
Romo |
6 |
67.4 |
30 |
11.23 |
2007 |
Rodgers |
6 |
65 |
20 |
10.83 |
2008 |
Bulger |
6 |
65 |
27 |
10.83 |
2007 |
Brees |
6 |
60 |
20 |
10 |
2006 |
Brady |
6 |
60 |
26.5 |
10 |
2005 |
Garrard |
6 |
60 |
18 |
10 |
2008 |
Hasselbeck |
6 |
47 |
16 |
7.83 |
2005 |
One great thing about the Chargers is that they play in beautiful
In the end I think Rivers will take a bit less than Rothlessburger getting a deal done sometime before the beginning of the 2009 season somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 years and $80 mil with $40 mil of it guaranteed