Detroit Lions QB Matt Stafford Gets $135 Million Contract

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 12, 8:42AM EST · Published Aug 29, 6:25AM EDT

Detroit Lions QB Matt Stafford Gets $135 Million Contract — © Thinkstock

According to several media reports, Detroit Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford has become the highest paid player in the NFL. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first posted the news that Stafford would make $135 million over five years, with a first season payment of $27 million.

The Lions’ management tweeted:

We have agreed to terms with QB Matthew Stafford on a five-year contract extension through the 2022 season.

ESPN reported the contract included a signing bonus of $50 million and $92 million in guaranteed payments beyond that.

Stafford is rated as an above-average quarterback, although some place him in the top 10 in the league. He is a prolific passer who racks up large numbers of passing yards per season. However, he is prone to interception and leads a team that has not been considered a candidate to go deep into the playoffs for years. He has passed for 4,000 yards or more in the past six seasons, but the Lions’ three post-season games during his tenure have all been losses.

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Stafford has never been considered an elite quarterback in the NFL, a designation that goes to Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, Aaron Rogers of the Green Bay Packers, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, each of whom has won at least one Super Bowl.

Stafford ranked eighth last season in total quarterback ratings with a score of 70.2, against the leader Matt Ryan, who had a rating of 83.3. Brady was second at 83.0. Among the 12 quarterbacks who played in the post-season, Stafford ranked ninth.

Stafford is 29 in a league where top quarterbacks often play into their late 30s, so the Lions’ contract wraps him up for what is likely to be the balance of his career.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.