Forbes: NFL's Most Overpaid and Underpaid Players

[Duckjake]

Not in the NFL, they don't. Why do you think that Carson Palmer is getting paid so little?

Yes they do. Why do you think free agents make so much jack. Palmer took a pay cut to get out of Oakland.

I bolded that part of your post because I don't believe Fitz got paid so much because he had the team over a barrel but because he was our "Franchise QB."

No WR should make what Fitz makes. Their impact on the game isn't worth >10% of the salary cap.

Not true. Sure a WR will only touch the ball 5-6 times a game but the best ones will account for 25% or more of the offense on Sunday's. For example Fitz accounted for over 30% of our offensive yards and 60% of our scoring in the SB vs Pittsburgh. It's a passing league and prime cut WRs are worth every penny they're paid.

 

[kerouac9]

Not in the NFL, they don't. Why do you think that Carson Palmer is getting paid so little?

Yes they do. Why do you think free agents make so much jack. Palmer took a pay cut to get out of Oakland.

I bolded that part of your post because I don't believe Fitz got paid so much because he had the team over a barrel but because he was our "Franchise QB."

No WR should make what Fitz makes. Their impact on the game isn't worth >10% of the salary cap.

Free agents don't "make so much jack" anymore. Not under the new CBA. Those that do quickly make their teams regret doing so. If you don't like the Palmer example, what about the pay cut that Matt Flynn took to get INTO Oakland? Or the contract that Kurt Warner got for his final season here?

Larry Fitzgerald isn't our franchise quarterback because the nature of his position is that he can't do what a franchise quarterback does. That's keep a team in contention no matter what else is swirling around him.

Drew Brees lead the New Orleans Saints to a 7-9 record with the worst defense in the NFL and a parade of clowns as the acting head coach last year. That's worth $12M a season.

Larry Fitzgerald made a bunch of poo faces walking off the field after watching a ball sail over his head last year. He cashed more than $20M worth of checks from the Arizona Cardinals.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Watching Fitzgerald in practice today and I know he is worth every penny. The dude just looks so natural out there.

Same goes for PP. That kid is going to be expensive when we try to resign him.

 

[Duckjake]

Free agents don't "make so much jack" anymore. Not under the new CBA. Those that do quickly make their teams regret doing so. If you don't like the Palmer example, what about the pay cut that Matt Flynn took to get INTO Oakland? Or the contract that Kurt Warner got for his final season here?

Larry Fitzgerald isn't our franchise quarterback because the nature of his position is that he can't do what a franchise quarterback does[/B]. That's keep a team in contention no matter what else is swirling around him.

Drew Brees lead the New Orleans Saints to a 7-9 record with the worst defense in the NFL and a parade of clowns as the acting head coach last year. That's worth $12M a season.

Larry Fitzgerald made a bunch of poo faces walking off the field after watching a ball sail over his head last year. He cashed more than $20M worth of checks from the Arizona Cardinals.

That's irrelevant. The Cardinals don't have a franchise QB to pay so they have to give the money to somebody and that somebody is Larry Fitzgerald.

23 million for Warner with a $15 million signing bonus was a pay cut? Where do you get that?

Flynn was traded, he had no choice, so why are you bringing him into the conversation?

 

[cardpa]

Totally agree with K9 here. No WR is worth what Fitz is getting paid. A WR just does not have the impact in a game that any QB does. Last year is a perfect example, the team had no QB that could get the ball to Fitz to make plays. The bottom line is unless you have a QB that can place the ball into positions where the WR can make a play it doesn't matter how good your WR is because he won't be able to make plays when the ball is nowhere in his zip code.

I am also a firm believer that the QB makes the WR look better than he is. That is why I said that for what the Cardinals pay Fitz it can be better used to find that LT and a RB as well as find a replacement for Fitz. With a legit QB like Plamer every WR on the team is going to look better. I'm sure Palmer likes the idea of throwing to Fitz since Fitz can make plays on a ball other WRs may not be able to. However that said Palmer even with a bad throw can still place the ball into a good enough position to give Fitz a chance to make a play.

Let's say the Cardinals run 60 offensive plays in a game. In that game Fitz catches 6 passes and makes a good block on 4 other plays. That is 10 plays out of 60 that Fitz has a direct influence on. That is 16.7% of the total plays. Palmer on the other hand is involved in all 60 plays and lets say 30 of those are passes. even if you discount the 30 running plays as simply a handoff, Palmer is still directly involved in 50% of the plays. Who is a bigger factor on the outcome of the game?

 

[kerouac9]

That's irrelevant. The Cardinals don't have a franchise QB to pay so they have to give the money to somebody and that somebody is Larry Fitzgerald.

23 million for Warner with a $15 million signing bonus was a pay cut? Where do you get that?

Flynn was traded, he had no choice, so why are you bringing him into the conversation?

The Bolded section is a non-sequitur to the underlined section. There's no logical connection between the two.

Do you think that Eric Winston and John Abraham are getting paid in proportion to their past production? What about Dwight Freeney in San Diego? Jake Long in St. Louis?

 

[Mulli]

The Bolded section is a non-sequitur to the underlined section. There's no logical connection between the two.

Do you think that Eric Winston and John Abraham are getting paid in proportion to their past production? What about Dwight Freeney in San Diego? Jake Long in St. Louis?

Of course, there is because that is what happened. Are any of the other of the players listed the face of the Cardinals franchise?

 

[kerouac9]

Of course, there is because that is what happened. Are any of the other of the players listed the face of the Cardinals franchise?

So marketing decisions are driving how the Cards are paying players, not on-field performance? That doesn't make any sense.

The Cards didn't have a Franchise QB, but they did have a WR who was eating up 15% of their cap space, so they gave the WR more money and reduced his cap hold in the short term, until the problem pops up again 3 years down the road.

That's what happened. No one would have paid Larry Fitzgerald more than we could or did. He didn't get a market rate, he got an above-market rate that was insane because he'd performed to the levels anticipated in his insane rookie contract.

 

[Mulli]

So marketing decisions are driving how the Cards are paying players, not on-field performance? That doesn't make any sense.

The Cards didn't have a Franchise QB, but they did have a WR who was eating up 15% of their cap space, so they gave the WR more money and reduced his cap hold in the short term, until the problem pops up again 3 years down the road.

That's what happened. No one would have paid Larry Fitzgerald more than we could or did. He didn't get a market rate, he got an above-market rate that was insane because he'd performed to the levels anticipated in his insane rookie contract.

That is how the Cardinals work. Emmit Smith.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Watching Fitzgerald in practice today and I know he is worth every penny. The dude just looks so natural out there.

Same goes for PP. That kid is going to be expensive when we try to resign him.

Agreed.

Believe it or not, my wife made a cool analogy to this debate, and a good/fun debate it is.

If you look at the situation from a strictly "Madden video game" perspective. Fitzgerald is overpaid.

You take out all the fanfare, and intangibles. You look at it from stats on a black and white piece of paper, and money given to the player. Then yeah, the Cardinals are paying a hell of a lot for a WR, that is not putting up the numbers other WR's are.

In my opinion there is WAY more to NFL football then stats vs. money, but in that simple relationship, he is overpaid.

In my opinion, when looking at the whole picture, he is worth every penny.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

So marketing decisions are driving how the Cards are paying players, not on-field performance? That doesn't make any sense.

Yes, it does.

This is a business not a pure sport. Wins and Losses are great, but you gotta sell tickets, and grow your brand.

Fitzgerald does both. I do not have ANY numbers to prove this, but I feel the Cardinals make there money back and then some from selling Fitzgerald sports memorabilia when compared to what they pay him out of their pockets.


And he is not the only player or sport where this happens. Being a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, Sidney Crosby ? He gets paid for his play, and he gets paid for being who he is, and being the face of the franchise. Crosby is not the best player in the NHL, and maybe not even the best player on his own team. He is injury prone, he has been non-exhistant in the playoffs (which is HUGE in hockey), and plays a very devil-may-care style that loses games.

But, they pay Crosby top dollar, and it effects the rest of the team. They struggle to get depth guys needed to go far in the playoffs, and each year it gets worse for the sake of keeping a guy like Sidney Crosby on the roster.

Yet, they would be insane to get rid of Crosby, much like the Cardinals would be insane to get rid of Larry Fitzgerald.

Now, do the Steelers, and Patriots do business this way ? No. Are they both consistently competitive teams ? Yes.

So, whether it is the right thing to do ? Debatable.

Is Larry Fitzgerald overpaid when looking at stats vs. money ? Yes. Do I personally care ? No. Not one bit.

The Cards didn't have a Franchise QB, but they did have a WR who was eating up 15% of their cap space, so they gave the WR more money and reduced his cap hold in the short term, until the problem pops up again 3 years down the road.

That's what happened. No one would have paid Larry Fitzgerald more than we could or did. He didn't get a market rate, he got an above-market rate that was insane because he'd performed to the levels anticipated in his insane rookie contract.

Again, I fail to see how that is any fault of Larry Fitzgerald, and we all know what a poor GM Rod Graves was.

Falling back-asswards into getting Kurt Warner don't count for much in my book either.

 

[Shane]

Yes, it does.

This is a business not a pure sport. Wins and Losses are great, but you gotta sell tickets, and grow your brand.

Fitzgerald does both. I do not have ANY numbers to prove this, but I feel the Cardinals make there money back and then some from selling Fitzgerald sports memorabilia when compared to what they pay him out of their pockets.


And he is not the only player or sport where this happens. Being a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, Sidney Crosby ? He gets paid for his play, and he gets paid for being who he is, and being the face of the franchise. Crosby is not the best player in the NHL, and maybe not even the best player on his own team. He is injury prone, he has been non-exhistant in the playoffs (which is HUGE in hockey), and plays a very devil-may-care style that loses games.

But, they pay Crosby top dollar, and it effects the rest of the team. They struggle to get depth guys needed to go far in the playoffs, and each year it gets worse for the sake of keeping a guy like Sidney Crosby on the roster.

Yet, they would be insane to get rid of Crosby, much like the Cardinals would be insane to get rid of Larry Fitzgerald.

Now, do the Steelers, and Patriots do business this way ? No. Are they both consistently competitive teams ? Yes.

So, whether it is the right thing to do ? Debatable.

Is Larry Fitzgerald overpaid when looking at stats vs. money ? Yes. Do I personally care ? No. Not one bit.



Again, I fail to see how that is any fault of Larry Fitzgerald, and we all know what a poor GM Rod Graves was.

Falling back-asswards into getting Kurt Warner don't count for much in my book either.

Who is saying its Fitz fault? I don't really see that as a point of contention? We all know whose fault it is. Fitz and his agent are gonna take what they can take thats just smart business sense.

Doesn't change the fact that he is grossly overpaid.

 

[Mulli]

Who is saying its Fitz fault? I don't really see that as a point of contention? We all know whose fault it is. Fitz and his agent are gonna take what they can take thats just smart business sense.

Doesn't change the fact that he is grossly overpaid.

Imagine how overpaid Fitz will be in a couple years, as he continues to slow, and QB to be determined is throwing to him.

 

[kerouac9]

Is Larry Fitzgerald overpaid when looking at stats vs. money ? Yes. Do I personally care ? No. Not one bit.

Then we agree. I've said it multiple times on this very thread: I don't begrudge Larry Fitzgerald one dollar that he's been paid or will be paid. He's valuable enough to me that I don't really care if he's grossly overpaid for his production. But the fact is that he is grossly overpaid for his production and his position.

Has that effected the Cardinals in having to make other decisions? Not to my knowledge, although you could argue that if Campbell and Fitz didn't have their coming cap holds, Kerry Rhodes and/or Adrian Wilson would still be here. Or that we could've kept Antrel Rolle if we didn't have to "save" money for Fitzgerald.

 

[Mulli]

Then we agree. I've said it multiple times on this very thread: I don't begrudge Larry Fitzgerald one dollar that he's been paid or will be paid. He's valuable enough to me that I don't really care if he's grossly overpaid for his production. But the fact is that he is grossly overpaid for his production and his position.

Has that effected the Cardinals in having to make other decisions? Not to my knowledge, although you could argue that if Campbell and Fitz didn't have their coming cap holds, Kerry Rhodes and/or Adrian Wilson would still be here. Or that we could've kept Antrel Rolle if we didn't have to "save" money for Fitzgerald.