1. Aaron Rodgers: $22 million
2. Ben Roethlisberger: $21.85 million
3. Matt Ryan: $20.75 million
4. Joe Flacco: $20.1 million
5. Drew Brees $20 million
Those are the five highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL according to their average salary per year. I bring these contracts to your attention because the Indianapolis Colts are facing an interesting situation with Andrew Luck.
The Colts exercised the fifth-year option on Luck's contract which will pay him just north of $16 million in 2016. After that, Luck will rightly deserve to be paid as a top five QB in the league, which means a salary starting at $20 million per year and possibly more. That's an expensive proposition for Indianapolis that may hamstring their salary cap going forward.
So the question is, would Luck be willing to take a hometown discount? ESPN Colts reporter Mike Wells answered this in his weekly mailbag.
"This is one question I can't speculate on because nobody knows - and may not know until it's time to negotiate - what Andrew Luck and his representatives are thinking when it comes to a contract. You can't fault Luck if he doesn't want to give the Colts a 'hometown' discount. He's become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and he deserves to be paid top dollar for everything he's done on the field for the franchise. I expect Luck to have an even better 2015 season than he had last year, when he threw for 4,761 yards and 40 touchdowns."
The Colts have enjoyed three straight 11-5 seasons since Luck was drafted in 2012. In that time, he's ranked in the top ten in total passing yards and passing yards per game twice and the Colts have finished top ten in total offense all three years. Indy was just one win away from the Super Bowl last season.
All in all, Luck has proven his worth in a short amount of time and is in line for a hefty raise. How much of a raise may be up to him.
