How Much Is Enough?

Are sports salaries getting out of control, how much is enough and is the athlete worth it? If you are a starting quarterback in the NFL today you expect to be the highest paid player on your team. If you’ve won a Super Bowl you might expect to be not only the highest paid quarterback, but the highest paid player in the league. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick signed a record contract extension with the team. It is a six-year $126 million deal, that’s an average of $21 million a year. This makes him not only the highest paid quarterback, but also the highest paid NFL player right now. What’s so unique about this contract is that $61 million of it is guaranteed, that’s an NFL record. No matter what happens this next season or the next six years, Colin Kaepernick has $61 million in the bank.

Kaepernick was a second round pick out of Nevada in the 2011 NFL Draft. He has taken the 49ers to two straight NFC Championship Games, winning one and one Super Bowl appearance. Kaepernick had a decent 2013 season; he threw 21 touchdowns and passed for 3,197 yards and rushed for 524 yards with four touchdowns. This type of contract is going to be the measuring stick for other so called elite quarterbacks that have contracts coming up for renewal, Cam Newton being one of them. Cam Newton hasn’t won or been to a Super Bowl, but he has been to the playoffs and had a record setting rookie year and he was a first round draft pick, the number one pick overall in the same draft as Kaepernick. Is he worth $126 million?

Here are the three questions I have and I’m sure many others will too. Is Colin Kaepernick or any NFL quarterback or player worth $126 million? Can he lead the 49ers to another Super Bowl, and how much money is enough? His coach Jim Harbaugh certainly thinks he is. Jim Harbaugh says his quarterback is ready for a breakout year.