The always excellent Andrew Mason tweeted this out after the Broncos drafted Paxton Lynch:
Also relevant: Lynch is cost-controlled for five years (4-yr. contract + 5th-year option). Makes it possible to give big QB $ to Von Miller.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) April 29, 2016
While this may be eye-opening to many of Mason’s Twitter followers, this is a point that we here have known as obvious for quite some time. What wasn’t obvious, however, was whether Lynch would even be obtainable. Well, he was, so let’s break down the financials a bit.
At Over The Cap, it’s our policy to not display full contract details until they are officially processed by the NFL. Therefore, Lynch’s contract page currently just consists of a veteran minimum tender of $450,000. However, once Lynch does sign, this is what his rookie contract should look like:
| Year | Base Salary | Prorated Bonus | Cap Number | (if cut before June 1) | |
| Dead Money | Cap Savings | ||||
| 2016 | $450,000 | $1,272,965 | $1,722,965 | $7,734,083 | ($6,011,118) |
| 2017 | $880,741 | $1,272,965 | $2,153,706 | $6,011,118 | ($3,857,412) |
| 2018 | $1,311,482 | $1,272,965 | $2,584,447 | $3,857,412 | ($1,272,965) |
| 2019 | $1,742,223 | $1,272,965 | $3,015,188 | $1,272,965 | $1,742,223 |
| 2020 | Team Option | ||||
The italicized base salaries for 2016-2018 indicate a full guarantee. There will be little debate that Lynch will get three out of four years fully guaranteed, as was the precedent for the past 26th overall selection (Breshad Perriman, Marcus Smith, Datone Jones, etc.).
Add Lynch’s $1,722,965 cap number to that of Mark Sanchez ($4,500,000, only $1 million guaranteed) and Trevor Siemian ($538,196), and the Broncos are currently slated to spend a total of $6,761,161 on quarterbacks in 2016. How does that compare to other teams in the league? Let’s just take one team as a completely not random example:
For everyone that was panicking over the Broncos’ QB situation, or thinking that John Elway should panic and make a hasty move, he has a message for all of you.