It has never been a better time to be a top-tier player in the NFL. The money coming in hot and fast each month is finally starting to resemble the NBA max-contract model.
The past three months have produced two new QB cash kings in Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers ($50 million per year) and Cleveland's Deshaun Watson (a fully guaranteed, $230 million deal). Top pass-catchers pushed the receiver market to $25-plus million. And just this week, Jaire Alexander brought the cornerback market into a new threshold at $84 million over four years with the Packers, less than a month after Denzel Ward hit the $20 million mark with the Browns.