Author: wheelhousesports24

A lot of times you hear how important it is for QBs to face adversity in high school or college if they want to be successful in the NFL. This is something I couldn’t agree with more. Why exactly is this the case?

Based on my vast knowledge of what it takes to be a successful NFL QB (by vast, I mean absolutely none whatsoever), here is what I think. In life, we all face moments that rock us to the core and force us to face our toughest internal demons and critics. No matter how good a QB is, they will inevitably face difficult situations, which can lead to self-doubt and damaged confidence.

When they face these moments, they can either give up or fight another day. It is in these situations when they really see what they are made of. When a QB deals with these difficulties in high school or college, they have far fewer eyes and much less pressure on them. Don’t get me wrong, these moments are still extremely hard to deal with. As a high schooler or college student going through these issues, they will probably feel like the hardest things they’ve ever dealt with.

However, when you get to deal with these internal and external struggles away from the entire country watching (aka the NFL), it allows you to have the time and space to overcome these obstacles in order to erase the self-doubt and win back your confidence. Then, each subsequent time you deal with adversity, you will deal with it better and better. Players like Tom Brady who dealt with a ton of challenges pre-NFL were well-equipped to handle NFL struggles.

Now, imagine an NFL QB who hasn’t dealt with a ton of strife in their life. They are a first-round pick making millions, who is supposed to be the savior of their team and city. When they face adversity for the first time and the inner turmoil it causes, they are doing it with hundreds of millions of eyes on them. That is a ridiculous amount of pressure to deal with! Furthermore, teams and fans barely give these young guys a chance to overcome these struggles.

Look at J.J. McCarthy. He’s only 23 years old, has been in the NFL two years, and has started 10 games. Most fans and people in football are already giving up on him. There is no time and no sympathy, as these are multi-billion-dollar teams with a lot of money at stake. Often, people want to say that a guy isn’t “mentally sound enough” to be an NFL QB. I would argue some guys just need time to build up their confidence and resilience to adversity.

Guys like Sam Darnold, Geno Smith, and Mayfield should give McCarthy hope. Sometimes a reset out of the spotlight gives you the proper time to overcome what you are facing and get in the right headspace to be a QB1 down the road. Then, when you face future challenges, you are more ready to overcome them.

Devon Witherspoon signed a four-year, $132 million contract extension with $101 million guaranteed. This is big for Patriots fans, as there was speculation that Witherspoon and Christian Gonzalez were waiting on each other to sign. Whoever signed first was going to ink a record-breaking deal for a cornerback, and whoever signed second would likely top that.

Look for Gonzo to sign a four-year deal soon worth $134-$140 million, with $102-$105 million guaranteed.

This offseason is evidence of why you want to sign star players as early as possible. With a first-round star player like Gonzo, we have him signed for one more year of his rookie deal plus a fifth-year option. A four-year extension puts him under contract for six years, and the team can spread out his signing bonus over the next five seasons.

This offseason, three cornerback contracts have already been record-setting. Trent McDuffie, Denzel Ward, and Witherspoon have all broken the mark for highest APY, while McDuffie and Witherspoon have each set the record for most guaranteed money.

The Pats and Gonzalez are going to set the market again. The good news is that in future years, CBs will get more expensive and we’ll be happy we did not wait to re-sign Gonzo.

It usually is a good idea to give star players star contracts. Gonzalez absolutely deserves this deal, since he is one of the best defensive players in the league. Teams run into issues when they give solid players star contracts. The NFL is about economics. It’s not just who you sign, but how much you sign them for. I hope that is something the Pats keep in mind.

This is one of my favorite blogs to write all year. Based on Sportico’s NFL valuations, the total value of all NFL teams combined is a hair under $300 billion dollars. If the NFL were publicly traded, that would make it the 42nd most valuable public company in the country – ahead of IBM, Verizon, and Disney.

Truth be told, this is still wayyyyyyyy under what the actual value of the NFL would be when you factor in the league office and the league-wide assets like television contracts.