2020 QB draft class cashes in with more than $1.2 billion in contract extensions

AP Pro Football Writer

The 2020 quarterback draft class is well on its way to being the highest-paid group of QBs from any draft in NFL history. The quintet of quarterbacks taken in the top two rounds four years ago also has a chance at being the most prolific.

With Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love being the final two quarterbacks to cash in on big-money extensions just hours apart on Friday, the five QBs taken in the first two rounds four years ago have agreed to contracts in a span of less than 16 months that are worth more than $1.2 billion.

No. 1 pick Joe Burrow signed the richest one last summer when Cincinnati gave him a five-year, $275 million deal that included a $40 million signing bonus. That deal topped the one from earlier last summer when the Los Angeles Chargers gave No. 6 pick Justin Herbert a five-year $262.5 million deal.

Second-rounder Jalen Hurts, who was picked 53rd overall in 2020, was the first from the class to get rewarded when he got a five-year $255 million extension in April — less than three months after leading Philadelphia to a Super Bowl appearance.

Tagovailoa, the fifth pick four years ago, and Love, the 20th selection, finished it off on Friday. Miami gave Tagovailoa a four-year, $212.4 million deal and the Packers gave Love a four-year, $220 million deal after making just 18 career regular-season starts.

The QBs from that class now have five of the 12 richest contracts handed out in NFL history and should be in position to cash in again if they keep playing at the high level they have achieved so far in their young careers.

The performance of these QBs stands in stark contrast to the quintet of quarterbacks taken with the top 15 picks the following season. Four of those quarterbacks were jettisoned by their original teams before finishing out their rookie deals with No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence the only one to get a big extension with a five-year $275 million contract from Jacksonville earlier this offseason.

While the quarterbacks from the 2020 class have yet to win a Super Bowl, an MVP or earn first-team All-Pro honors, they have all performed at a high level as part of the rare quarterback draft class with a perfect hit rate in the top two rounds.

Despite Love not getting a chance to start until last season, and Burrow and Tagovailoa missing significant time because of injuries, the group has been the most prolific statistically through four seasons of any class of QBs taken in the top two rounds.

They have combined for 60,474 yards passing through four seasons — more than 6,000 more than the famed 1983 class that featured Hall of Famers John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino — and 394 touchdown passes for the most as well.

Only the 2011 class led by Cam Newton made more starts through four years with 250 to the 234 for the group from 2020, and the 134 wins are six shy of the 1983 group for the most through four seasons.

All five QBs have led their teams to the playoffs with Burrow taking the Bengals to the Super Bowl following the 2021 season and Hurts doing the same with the Eagles the following season.

Herbert and Tagovailoa lost in their only playoff starts, with the Chargers blowing a 27-0 lead in a 2022 wild-card loss at Jacksonville and the Dolphins losing 26-7 in the bitter cold at Kansas City this past season.

But the regular-season performances of all five quarterbacks have all been stellar, giving this group a chance to compete with the 1983 class and the 2004 class headed by Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers as the most productive ever.

Four of the five QBs from the first two rounds of that class — all but Hurts — have already had a 4,000-yard passing season, tied for the most 4,000-yard passers in any draft class. Three of the QBs have already had a season with at least 30 TDs with Tagovailoa falling one short in 2023 and Hurts also not making that mark.

The class from 20 years ago has the most yards passing ever for QBs from one draft with 221,122 and the most TD passes with 1,398 but the group from 2020 is off to a good start to top those marks.

With two healthy seasons from the 2020 group, it could move into the top 20 all time in both lists before any of the QBs have turned 30 years old.

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