Lions’ Matt Stafford Is Highest-Paid Player In NFL History After Signing 5-Year Extension

Matthew Stafford is set to become the highest-paid player in NFL history after the quarterback agreed to a five-year extension with the Detroit Lions on Monday.

Matthew Stafford contract news

The deal is worth $135 million and includes $92 million guaranteed plus a $43 million signing bonus. The pact’s $27 million annual value surpasses that of the five-year deal quarterback Derek Carr signed with the Oakland Raiders in July, which will give Carr $25 million per year.

The previous record for guaranteed money issued to an NFL player was $87 million for quarterback Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts in 2016, part of a six-year contract worth $140 million.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, 29-year-old Stafford will be guaranteed $60.5 million at signing and $86 million by the start of Year 2 of the deal, which begins next March. The full $92 million is guaranteed upon Year 3, a league source told Schefter.

Stafford has posted just one negative TD-to-INT ratio, 13-20 in his rookie year of 2009, when he was drafted by the Lions as the top overall pick out of Georgia. From 2011 to 2016, the QB has thrown for at least 4,250 yards and 20 touchdowns in each season and has posted a completion percentage of 65 or better in his last two. His passer rating has finished between 84.2 and 97 in each of his last four campaigns, and he has managed to stay relatively healthy except for an injury-plagued 2010.

A one-time Pro Bowler (2014), Stafford was also named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2011, and since then hasn’t missed a game. He helped lead Detroit to the playoffs in 2011, 2014 and 2016.

Stafford also holds franchise records for passing yards (30,303), completions (2,634), attempts (4,285) and touchdowns (187), and his career average of 278.0 passing yards per game is the most in NFL history for a player’s first eight seasons.

Lions receiver Golden Tate and Stafford’s wife Kelly both congratulated the QB on Instagram:

“When daddy and mommy whispered to us we would be spending 6 more years in detroit… hope y’all are as excited as we are!
#golions #thankyoudetroit #home,” Kelly wrote as a caption for a video of the couple’s twin baby boys.

“Congrats my friend, you deserve every blessing that’s coming your way! No one deserves this more than you. The attitude and dedication you bring everyday is contagious. It’s been fun catching passes from you, but I feel like it’s gonna get way more fun. Hope we continue playing together for a long time #thatsmyquarterback (T.O voice ),” Tate wrote.

Stafford was a star at Highland Park High School near Dallas, where he was a teammate of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw — who just happens to be the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball this season at $33 million.

DETROIT, MI – OCTOBER 16: Matthew Stafford #9 of the Detroit Lions looks for a receiver against the Los Angeles Rams during first half action at Ford Field on October 16, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)