The Super Bowl QB Cap Conversation

Michael Ginnitti
Michael Ginnitti, Managing Editor & NFL/MLB ExpertFebruary 04, 2024
© Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

With the Super Bowl now upon us, we'll take our annual look at how this year's starting QBs align with those who have started the big game since the year 2000. The following breakdown shows each starting quarterback's salary cap figure for their Super Bowl season, and the percent of the NFL league salary cap it represented in that year.

Notable Notes

  • Patrick Mahomes 16.52% league cap allocation is the 3rd largest since 2000, behind only Peyton Manning (18.88%, 2009), & Mahomes himself last season (17.19%)
  • Brock Purdy's 0.40% cap hit allocation is the lowest for a starting QB since 2000. Tom Brady (0.46%, 2001) was the low mark for 22 years.
  • 7 of the 48 Super Bowl Starting QBs over the past 24 years carried a less than 1% cap allocation. Brock Purdy becomes the 2nd consectutive NFC QB to carry this designation (Hurts, 2022, 0.79%)
  • The last <1% cap QB to win the Super Bowl? Nick Foles (0.96%, 2017).
  • The average cap % for the last 5 Super Bowl winning QBs: 7.8%
  • The average cap % for the last 5 Super Bowl losing QBs: 6.1%
  • This Super Bowl projects to be the first since 2016 (Brady/Ryan) where at least one of the starting QBs does not sign a contract extension in the following offseason. Patrick Mahomes agreed to a cash restructure this past summer, & Brock Purdy is ineligible for a new contract.
Season NFL CAP   TEAM QUARTERBACK CAP HIT NFL CAP %   TEAM QUARTERBACK CAP HIT NFL CAP %
2023 $224,800,000   KC P. Mahomes $37,133,825 16.52%   SF B. Purdy $889,252 0.40%
2022 $208,200,000   KC P. Mahomes $35,793,381 17.19%   PHI J. Hurts $1,643,230 0.79%
2021 $182,500,000   LAR M. Stafford $20,000,000 10.96%   CIN J. Burrow $8,225,031 4.51%
2020 $198,200,000   TB T. Brady $25,000,000 12.61%   KC P. Mahomes $5,346,508 2.70%
2019 $188,200,000   KC P. Mahomes $4,479,776 2.38%   SF J. Garoppolo $20,000,000 10.63%
2018 $177,200,000   NE T. Brady $22,000,000 12.42%   LAR J. Goff $7,619,365 4.30%
2017 $167,000,000   PHI N. Foles $1,600,000 0.96%   NE T. Brady $14,000,000 8.38%
2016 $155,270,000   NE T. Brady $13,764,705 8.87%   ATL M. Ryan $23,750,000 15.30%
2015 $143,280,000   DEN P. Manning $17,500,000 12.21%   CAR C. Newton $13,000,000 9.07%
2014 $133,000,000   NE T. Brady $14,800,000 11.13%   SEA R. Wilson $817,302 0.61%
2013 $123,600,000   SEA R. Wilson $681,085 0.55%   DEN P. Manning $17,500,000 14.16%
2012 $120,600,000   BAL J. Flacco $8,000,000 6.63%   SF C. Kaepernick $1,164,613 0.97%
2011 $120,375,000   NYG E. Manning $14,100,000 11.71%   NE T. Brady $12,950,000 10.76%
2010* $121,700,000   GB A. Rodgers $6,500,000 5.34%   PIT B. Roethlisberger $10,355,882 8.51%
2009 $123,000,000   NO D. Brees $10,347,900 8.41%   IND P. Manning $23,216,666 18.88%
2008 $116,000,000   PIT B. Roethlisberger $8,247,500 7.11%   ARI K. Warner $6,000,000 5.17%
2007 $109,000,000   NYG E. Manning $11,716,666 10.75%   NE T. Brady $7,345,160 6.74%
2006 $102,000,000   IND P. Manning $8,550,000 8.38%   CHI R. Grossman $1,530,000 1.50%
2005 $85,500,000   PIT B. Roethlisberger $4,220,250 4.94%   SEA M. Hasselbeck $6,600,000 7.72%
2004 $80,582,000   NE T. Brady $5,058,750 6.28%   PHI D. McNabb $8,709,522 10.81%
2003 $75,007,000   NE T. Brady $3,318,750 4.42%   CAR J. Delhomme $1,780,000 2.37%
2002 $71,101,000   TB B. Johnson $6,800,000 9.56%   OAK R. Gannon $3,714,285 5.22%
2001 $67,405,000   NE T. Brady $310,833 0.46%   STL K. Warner $2,334,523 3.46%
2000 $62,172,000   BAL T. Dilfer $1,000,000 1.61%   NYG K. Collins $2,210,000 3.55%

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