The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

$10 million?

$20 million?

$30 million?

If the third, too bad we signed X the human mauling machine to all that money

Backups you never need one until you do. Teddy is in contention for this years SotY had he been able to hold it together maybe we get a different seed and maybe we get a playoff win for once.

Being a backup QB has to be the best job in the world lol

Doesn't answer my question.

Therefore, I will respond with something equally irrelevant.  If the officiating in the NFL wasn't so horrid, NE makes it, and Miami does not make it.

Now back to the thread.

How much does a good backup quarterback cost?

TLDR: About $5 million

Stop being so sensitive. Unlike your mini-rant, Denver addressed a very central issue to your question: Backup quarterbacks are players you hope you never need, but if you do need them (especially for an extended period of time), they need to perform at a starting quarterback level.

So a good starting point in answering the question is, what's a lower-tier starting quarterback worth? Looking at 2023 numbers (which could obviously change), the median salary of the top 32 quarterbacks is $15 million (meaning half make less, half make more). Rookie contracts obviously skew those numbers, but it gives us a good starting point (and we can therefore easily throw out two of your three "guesses"). Once you get outside the top 32 highest-paid quarterbacks, you are actually below $2 million.

To get any closer than that, you have to really look at the team in question and what they need in terms of a QB2. Teams with an aging but durable QB1 who still has some time left in him will often want a young guy as the backup. That's usually someone they drafted, probably not in the first round, but not necessarily a "project" pick, either. Those players make very little. The Patriots have taken quite a few of those over the years with varying levels of success (Stridham, Jimmy G, Ryan Mallett, etc). They can certainly also be really long-shot picks that the team likely expects to be QB3 / practice squad for a while (like Skylar Thompson or Brock Purdy). Sometimes even QB3s have to step up, obviously, and running out of players capable of throwing the ball isn't fun.

If your veteran quarterback is getting really old and you get a chance for some 1st round talent, that's obviously something teams will want to do as well. Packers picking Aaron Rodgers to sit behind Brett Favre or Jordan Love to sit behind Aaron Rodgers would be two examples of that and those players are going to be more expensive, closer to the $5 million mark, by virtue of being first round picks.

If you go the Free Agent route, you again have to make a choice. Are you willing to pay starting money to a quarterback who might get a starting gig elsewhere? If the plan is to stick him on the bench, you will probably have to pay a bit of a premium, but we're obviously not talking crazy money and we're clearly going to be in the lower end of the top top 32. The very high end of this would be Jimmy G with the 49ers and Teddy Bridgewater with the Dolphins at $6.5 million each (Garoppolo wound up getting a lot more by virtue of starting so many games - had he stayed QB2, he would have gotten $6.5 million).

If you are willing to take a FA quarterback who clearly isn't getting a starting gig, but is still going to be okay for a few series or maybe even a game or two (at most), then it gets a bit harder, because the dropoff in quality is pretty steep and how the quarterback does is probably mostly going to be a product of the team around them as opposed to any stellar talent of the QB. In terms of money, we're talking something like $2 to $5 million. Foles (Colts), Henne (Chiefs), Minshew (Eagles), and Tyrod Taylor (Giants) would be typical examples in that category.

Ultimately, however, salaries don't exist in a vacuum and not all teams need the same things. Take the 2023 Dolphins. Skylar Thompson is set to earn all of $900k. A great salary for a normal job, but practically nothing in the NFL. Likely, the Dolphins would want to bring in another backup, but if you have someone who can go in and not bomb, how much *more* are you willing to pay? Do you go out and get a Baker Mayfield for something probably closer to $5 million than $2 million? Do you go completely nuts and get a "starting caliber" player like we did last year (*cough*)? That would bump the cost and you would probably have to wait until the QB1 market shakes out. This year is going to see quite a few reasonably talented quarterbacks hit free agency. Obviously, we're not talking top-tier talent, but still.

I don't know which way the Dolphins will elect to go. Personally, I'd rather not get the expensive high-end backup. The risks just seem too great and the option we do have (Skylar) good enough that I don't think it would be worth it.

I don't think there's a money answer.  I think it's a talent issue and figuring out who the player is, in general.

I believe it's maybe trying to find a person who compliments your staff with his existing play-style, so there's as little dust-up, should they have to come in for a few plays.  ....either that or someone that can do things like scramble and make things happen on their own, in desperation.

Teddy just wasn't good / wasn't a good fit, regardless of money.  He wasn't able to contribute anything at any time.  You might as well have paid him 0.

To directly answer the question as much as possible, it would be just less than whatever the lowest starting QB salary is.

If we are in a cap crunch, we might go with Skylar as the backup. He could've won us the playoff game if not for the dropped passes.

To be honest I have no solid idea, but I would go as far to say it's probably a combination of both, and there are differences for each team depending on their cap space and QB situations.

Case example would be the Philadelphia Eagles, when Foles came on to replace an injured Wentz to win a Superbowl, followed up by getting them deep into the playoffs the following season. His contract was heavily incentive laden, so if he stayed on the bench he was affordable - once he started hitting particular targets he became very expensive. Despite being the perfect backup based on game results, it turned out he was just too expensive for them too keep.

^ Yeah, I guess there are exceptions.

But I always think that there are about 25 good QBs in the league and some bums who are holding down the fort during a rebuild.  So, if a backup was truly good, he's either home grown and undiscovered as of yet or he would be starting somewhere else.

I suppose the exception are journeyman guys.  There are people who maybe started for a while, were decent, but aged out and a team doesn't want to rebuild with you, like Fitzpatrick was.  He wasn't awful, but he wasn't the future.  I think we were hoping Teddy could be that and he just wasn't.

I think that if you can get a quality back-up veteran QB at a reasonable salary, then great, but I think a good strategy to follow is to try to constantly draft a mid-late rd QB, then try developing your young QBs during camp and keep the best "ceiling" QB as your back-up going into the season...and stash 1-2 on your practice squad.

I think this is true, but if you want more of a veteran presence then FYO is right, about $5M. 

It's also easy to bring in young mid-round talent when you have an established starter.  When you're developing a young QB here, like in Tua's first couple of years, the Twitter crowd would be calling for the young backup to "see what this kid can do".  That's a bad environment.  But if we're talking about someone to back up Mahomes, sure.

Well if your preferred starter is not playing well, then the fans are going to be calling for the backup no matter who is next in line, whether it's a young guy or a veteran.  After all that is the reason Miami let Fitzpatrick go, and he wasn't a young kid.

Anyone you would want to back up Tua is going to be starting for someone. The best we can do other than Skyler is going to be an Andy Dalton or similar. The NFL is starved for QBs right now.

For this reason and the cap, it's very likely going to be Skyler. Why bring in someone who was last productive in 2013? It's a name only.

No matter who we bring in, we're going to be in trouble if Tua only plays 10 games so let Skyler do it after another year under McDaniel's system and practicing with his teammates. Very likely the best option forward.

In all reality we have the best back up. He will be resting up and playing with the kids in Miami until needed but Brady should be fine when he gets that call! hahahah

I have to agree with the consensus here...Skylar is the obvious choice to back up Tua in 2023. Dirt cheap on a late round rookie deal, plus he showed "enough" that you can still hope that, with more reps and time in-system, he could turn out to be something decent. Then, if Skylar does show he has value, and if Tua qualifies for a thicker skull-transplant and stays healthy, you have the greatest piece of tradebait possible...a young viable QB.  ;)

Only because his name was mentioned... I would not like Andy Dalton as our starting QB, but I would love him as our backup QB. He's a proven veteran. And he did win a lot of games with  Cincinnati... If Skylar  Thompson has to play  a  lot of games next year , we are fucked!

Skylar Thompson is not going to be able to lead this team into the playoffs next year unless the defense forces a flurry of turnovers every game.  Not likely.    

Especially given our schedule.  Yikes.

Regarding Dalton, sure.

But I think he's probably thinking "what's in it for me".  He would probably want to go somewhere where there's a chance that he can compete to start.  And that wouldn't be here.  The only way Tua won't play is if he can't.

I'm totally against signing these veteran QB's that were former starters, 98% of them are just hanging around trying to squeeze the last several million out of teams while standing on the sideline.  They sure aren't going to be out there making plays if it means suffering a big injury.  I'd much rather have a younger guy out there that is trying to make a name for himself, although less experienced they are going to give a 110%.


And if a team's top priority is getting a top notch backup QB because you think there is a high risk of your starter being injured, then you should get rid of the starter.

Again I think it's more complex than that, depending on the team and coaches. Horses for courses.

We had a rookie coach with a new, quick and complex game plan tailored around Tua - when Teddy was subbed in, it was all slowed down, he just couldn't get the ball out quick enough. Skylar was a lot better the two times he started, a Rookie who was third on the depth chart and had basically no real reps until he was thrown in the deep because of the other injuries. I think that's where the argument of needing an experienced backup comes undone, because he's too set in his ways to adjust to a new coach and plan, and a fresh backup learning the new system is not only a lot cheaper, but often as much if not more of a chance to be successful in the role.

Would we be better with Jimmy G who is possibly more familiar with the McDaniel/Shanahan way of doing things? Maybe, but at what cost? Andy Dalton though? I see another potential Teddy, so no thanks... I definitely don't want another potential (let's undermine the young QB to get his job) Fitztragic either.

You compare that with the benign Chad Henne option under a very experienced coach who has sat on the bench for the last five years behind Mahomes with a strict "don't f*ck it up" policy the rare times he gets on the field. Yeah, yeah, he led that (one, IMO not particularly impressive) drive against the Bills, but if it was any more than that I don't think the Chiefs would even have played against the Bengals last weekend.

I like what I saw from Skyler, and he's worth sticking with for what is a bargain outlay. He will be better being the designated second string behind Tua, so there's the hope he may develop into a genuine Frank Reich type backup - and I remember him burning us enough times to think that's worth the gamble. Plus we have other more important holes in the team to spend $$$ on.

Yeah, this is a very good argument for Skylar. Get him another offseason learning the system and his receivers and he is likely the best we're going to get. Plus, can't discount his price of almost nothing. We will make some cap room, but why waste $7 Million on a backup if we don't have to?

^^^  Exactly...what Downunder said.


 ;)

The only reason you do that is if you know he is literally the perfect fit for the team. Again the case for this is Nick Foles when he moved back to Philadelphia - the scheme being run was extremely similar to the Chip Kelly system he played under so he slotted right in. He loved the city and was very happy to be a back up to Wentz, so he wasn't a perceived threat to his startring job, even after the Superbowl win. He was an incredibly effective backup because he matched the coach and his plans, but unfortunately for the Eagles became too expensive to keep.

Probably closest the one out there for us to fit the profile would be Jimmy G, but the cost would be horrendous considering where we are at with the cap at present.