Now of course, we all know that Matt Schaub's 2009 season was one of the best in the NFL, and enough to put him in the middle of the conversation for anywhere from the third to eighth best quarterback in the league, depending on how much of a homer you are. But what you might not know is how Schaub did reflected by his salary and cap charge last year. According to Dr. Ben Alamar, Schaub was one of just seven quarterbacks to "earn" their salary last year, and one of only two elite quarterbacks.
↵↵↵Note that of our top five QB seasons from last year on a pure performance basis, none of them make the top 5 of Percentage of Salary Earned with Brees being the best coming in at 6th with an earned salary $1.4 mil above his cap charge, followed immediately by Schaub with an earned salary $1.3mil above his cap charge. This demonstrates the danger of large long term contracts for NFL teams, as well as the ease with which teams can overpay at the QB position.
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Of course, this study is more than a little biased in my view. You can't really separate the statistics of quarterbacks from their offensive systems, and of course, you'd be hardpressed to find anyone who would argue that Peyton Manning is overpaid. But, at any rate, it sure seems like Schaub is a damn good quarterback AND a damn good bargain for a quarterback.
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