Love, Tagovailoa Surpass NFL Legends’ Pay as QB Market Inflates

“Show me the money.”

That’s what Tua Tagovailoa shouted to the crowd of fans Sunday morning at the Miami Dolphins training camp, channeling his inner Rod Tidwell, the fictional wide receiver who said the iconic line in the 1996 sports classic Jerry Maguire.

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Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love could have said the same thing after both young quarterbacks signed record-breaking contract extensions over the weekend. Love signed the richest contract in NFL history, a four-year, $220 million deal that eclipsed Tagovailao’s four-year, $212 million deal.

“When your contract is [expiring] and you’re at the top of your game, you’re going to surpass any of the legends just by virtue of the way the market works and due to the fact the cap has gone up,” NFL agent Brad Blank said in an interview. “It doesn’t matter what somebody from the past made. It’s what the market bears.”

Love, the former Aaron Rodgers backup who has one playoff victory, will earn $55 million per year, tying him with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in average annual value (AAV). “Don’t spend it all in one place, but if you do, I still have a house in Green Bay that’s up for sale,” Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of Love’s new deal in an interview with NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger and Judy Battista.

Love is already on pace to surpass his former teammate in on-field earnings, and in far less time, Rodgers made $306 million in his 17 seasons with the Packers, according to Spotrac. As the salary cap increases along with the rate for star quarterbacks, Love could eclipse the four-time MVP with his next contract depending on his play. It’s the kind of cash that Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre couldn’t even fathom.

Favre, who lifted the Pack to a Super Bowl title in 1997, earned roughly $100 million over the course of his 16 seasons with the Packers. In the not-so-distant future, as the league flushes out newer revenue streams from gambling to international, that career figure could be the annual rate for star quarterbacks set to hit the free agency market.

In the meantime, talented yet less proven quarterbacks like Love, Tagovailoa and Lawrence are showing the true power of the evolving market in a league where success is impossible without at least a serviceable franchise quarterback.

Tagovailoa, who has yet to win a playoff game in four seasons, is now set to earn $53 million per year. That’s a little more than the total Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino earned in his 17 seasons with the Dolphins.

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The current Dolphins signal caller, who will receive $167 million guaranteed with his new deal, is now one of eight quarterbacks now earning at least $50 million in AAV.

“Today’s free agent makes more than yesterday’s superstar,” Blank said.

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