Move over Derek Carr, you have some company.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Detroit Lions are expected to sign quarterback Matthew Stafford to a five-year contract extension that will make him the highest-paid player in NFL history.
Lions and Matthew Stafford agreed to five-year contract expected to make him highest paid player in NFL history, a team source told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2017
A deal between the two sides had been bandied about for some time. But the closer we moved to the regular season, the less likely an extension seemed.
That can now be thrown out the window.
Per Schefter’s reporting, Stafford’s new deal will surpass the $25 million Carr received annually on the extension he signed during the spring.
Carr’s contract called for $125 million over five seasons with $70.2 million guaranteed. It sure looks like Stafford will indeed overtake him on the pay scale.
Stafford, 29, was previously set to play under the final year of his contract at $22 million. That’s obviously no longer going to be the case.
The deal itself is said to be worth $135 million over five seasons, surpassing Carr by an average of $2 million per season.
The #Lions and QB Matthew Stafford agreed on a 5-year extension worth $135M, source said. Huge.💰💰💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 29, 2017
There will definitely be further updates as this story continues to break.