Alright........lets take 10MIL off of each of their salaries which would make them paid like pretty good to average QB's.
And lets say that 10MIL gets you a top quality player at whatever position you want. Not a superstar but a guy who is really good.
How many of those teams make the playoffs?
Lets say you take $15MIL from each and you get a superstar player at some positions. I say some because 15MIL doesn't get you a superstar player at every position, most but not all.
How many make the playoffs now?
Lets say you took that 15MIL and got 2 decent players, or one good player and two role players for depth. Or any way you want to spend that 15MIL.
How many of those teams make the playoffs?
Only one 9 win team got in this year. The other WC team got 10 wins. So let's say in order to get that one spot each team would have needed more wins. That means the player or players you got with the extra money would need to add the following to each team.
Packers..........3 to 4 wins depending on tie breakers
Falcons..........2 to 3 wins depending on tie breakers
Vikings..........1 or 2 wins depending on tiebreakers
Lions..........3 to 4 wins depending on tiebreakers
Raiders..........5 to 6 wins depending on tie breakers
I skipped the 49ers because we don't know what would have happen had JG played all year. I have my thoughts, but we will leave them out since he didn't play and the other teams had their starter all year. Teams almost never make the playoffs with a backup, it's rarer than hens teeth. And yes I know the Rams did it with Warner LOL.
My feeling is that it is highly unlikely that any team outside of the Vikings has more than a snowballs chance in hell of gaining that many wins because of one player who isn't a QB. And even that's a long shot.
So it isn't the QB's salary freaking those teams up, their salaries cannot be directly tied to the teams missing the playoffs. It's a straw man of epic proportions. Look at the flaws for each of those teams and you will quickly figure out 10-15MIL more in cap space isn't going to fix them enough to garner the wins needed. And that's WITH those QB's playing at a lower salary.
Also.........with that money going to other players what kind of QB would the team have? Spending 15-18MIL gets you exactly what at QB these days? I'll tell you what it get's you. Mediocre QB play.
There is no merit to the conversation. Even if you took the entire salaries and gave it back to the team to spend as they see fit and the QB's listed above played for free how much of a difference would it make? I'd argue some but not enough except for possibly the Vikings since 28MIL could get some great help.
And before someone says "well look at the teams that made the playoffs with QB's on cheap rookie deals" I will say this.
Look at the rest of the roster. The rosters are full of better talent. Hell the Rams had last years DPOY and OPOY in place before Goff was drafted. Yes paying a guy 3-7 million frees up money, but you still have to use it wisely.
I don't know how this narrative started but it simply isn't the entire story, it's one of a handful of facets.
