How Much Is Enough? Part II

In June before the 2014 NFL season I posted a blog titled, “How Much Is Enough”. It was about the outrageous salaries being paid to NFL Players, especially quarterbacks. The post mainly talks about the contract extension that San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick received. Kaepernick received a 6-year contract extension worth $126 million. The contract averages $21 million a year, and $61 million of that is guaranteed. This contract made him the highest paid NFL player at any position.

Now let take a look at the latest NFL player contract news. Free agency is about to start in a couple of days, and the biggest name in this year’s free agent pool is Ndamukong Suh. He is probably the best defensive lineman in the NFL. Drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2010, Suh is now an unrestricted free agent and has been courted by a few teams. It is now being reported that Suh will sign with the Miami Dolphins on the first day of free agency. Ndamukong Suh’s new contract will be a 6-year deal worth $114 million, with $60 million guaranteed. The contract will average $19 million a year. As you can see from the numbers, this contract is very similar to Colin Kaepernick’s contract. This contract makes Suh one of the highest paid players in the NFL. This contract does make Ndamukong Suh the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

In part one of this post I asked three questions. Here are the three questions I have and I’m sure many others will too. Is any NFL player worth this kind of money, can they lead their teams to a Super Bowl, and how much money is enough? Let me say that I am a Miami Dolphins fan, and I’m ecstatic that we’re going to sign Ndamukong Suh, but the money is crazy, so I still ask the question, how much is enough?