News came out Tuesday evening that the Los Angeles Rams have worked out an extension to quarterback Jared Goff; a four-year $134 million extension, per Adam Schefter. The deal keeps him in LA until 2024 and also gives him an NFL record of $110 million in guaranteed money. We’ll probably get the nitty-gritty soon by cap analysts as the numbers come out because as you all know, the numbers can lie, but it’s safe to say Jared Goff got paaaaiiiiiid.
He’s not going anywhere, 49ers fans. That contract combined with what they gave running back Todd Gurley and defensive tackle Aaron Donald is almost a broken piggy bank. It’s curious who else they can get locked up now.
As far as Goff himself is concerned, he’s had an atrocious season under Jeff Fisher where he looked like a bust. What followed was two productive seasons under Sean McVay, one of which where he took the Rams to the Super Bowl. Some have wondered if McVay would get himself a different quarterback to keep costs down. Obviously, the Rams felt Goff couldn’t be replaced and handed him some cash.
Then there’s the San Francisco 49ers, well, they might have seeded this with that contract they gave Jimmy Garoppolo. One year ago, Jimmy Garoppolo’s $137.5 million contract had $74 million in guarantees. The ending salary is a bit higher than Goff’s but the guarantees are much lower and the 49ers are still able to cut bait after 2020 where there’s not much of a hit. Right now, the 49ers are sitting with an absolute bargain and given what contract numbers were a year ago, it’s fascinating how much the market has inflated in just over a year.
Contracts do need to reflect what a player has done thus far, but more important is what you expect from them during the life of the deal. Quarterbacks are an exception where the contract is based more on expectations. If you think you have a premium quarterback, you have to pay the money and it’s been demonstrated several time since Garoppolo’s then-record setting contract.
One year later and this contract looks like an absolute bargain. Again, we need to see where the guarantees are with the Rams and where things shake out year to year, but if you look at their cap now, things have to be tight. Not counting this contract, Goff is due $22,783 in a base salary for 2020 with his fifth-year option.
The numbers on Over The Cap haven’t been updated as of this writing, but right now the Rams have just $1,582,746 left in cap space for 2019. It will be interesting how this contract is worded and when the guarantees will kick in per year. As far as free agency, the Rams may slow down a bit considering the cash flow issues they may incur. We haven’t even talked about Brandin Cooks (who gets over $10 million a season) among others. The point is, the Rams have the money to do it, but things are stretched thin.
Goff is remaining in the NFC West. Under what parameters, I don’t know, but when you look at those guarantees and the massive inflation since Jimmy Garoppolo’s deal, you can’t help but feel relieved the 49ers got a deal done when they did.