Philip Rivers contract: How much did ex-Chargers QB earn in NFL?
Justin Herbert replaced Philip Rivers as the franchise quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers, ensuring that they had a great quarterback taking another's place.
Such is the value of an NFL quarterback today that the current incumbent secured a $262.5 million five-year contract for his troubles. That makes it an average annual value of $52.5 million.
That's a far cry from even what Philip Rivers received in his last Chargers contract extension. He signed a four-year $84 million extension, at an average annual value of $21 million. What Justin Herbert has received right now is more that. Philip Rivers' contract expired in 2019, and in four years, we have seen such a massive change in the game.
What's perhaps even more surprising is when we look at the total amount of money the retired quarterback made in the NFL. He played for 17 seasons in the league as one of the best in the business.
His cumulative earning over that period was around $250 million. The deal Justin Herbert has secured now blows that figure out of water. He can earn more in five years, theoretically, than what Philip Rivers accomplished in nearly two decades.
That's hardly surprising given how much the window has moved towards the passing game in the NFL. Quarterbacks have become more important than ever, and the league is willing to dish out money. It's also reflected in the dropping values for running backs in the NFL, while tight ends pick up. In every way, it's now a pass-dominated league.
The other thing is that despite many predictions of its demise, the NFL remains the most popular league in America. That translates into larger valuations for NFL teams and more salary cap flexibility. All that has combined to make current quarterbacks way richer than their previous counterparts.
@LBrijbasi @discoque5 spotrac.com/nfl/cba/
2020 & 2021 is only the way it was because of COVID. Teams also have a good idea of the cap increases going forward.
With enough players on rookie deals you can afford to do lot ... a big difference now vs. Bruce days pic.twitter.com/YqgFPb6ER8
Is Justin Herbert better than Philip Rivers?
Of course, even including the above factors, we must ask ourselves a more obvious question. Is Justin Herbert being compensated better simply because he is a better quarterback than Philip Rivers?
Even though Rivers was selected in the 2004 NFL Draft, he did not become the starter until the 2006 season, as he backed up another legendary quarterback in Drew Brees.
Looking at his stats from that season until his retirement in 2020, we see that his average passer rating was 95.3. That's not too different from what Justin Herbert presently has at 96.2.
Even in terms of passing yards, it's not too different. Given the reliance on passing games today, one would have expected the difference to be significant, but over his career, the former Chargers quarterback had 4219.5 yards per season. Herbert has 4696.3 yards per season, but he's now playing in a league with 17 regular season games, while his predecessor had one fewer.
In touchdowns, interceptions and completion percentage, the younger quarterback eclipses the man whose shoes he filled. Herbert has a seasonal average of 31.3 touchdowns, 11.7 interceptions and a 66.9 percent completion.
Philip Rivers checks out at 28 touchdowns, 13.9 interceptiosn and a 64.9 percent completion while starting. Looking at only the first three starting seasons of his career, his touchdown figures go down to 25.7; interceptions are the same as Herbert at 11.7, while completion percentage drops to 62.4 percent.
Therefore, we could say that Justin Herbert might be marginally better than Philip Rivers. If we factor in how much the league has moved towards pass-dominated schemes, that difference diminishes, though.
Therefore, one can be certain to a high degree that if the former Chargers quarterback was playing now, he would have earned a similar figure.