Issue #262: Dynamic Duo’s

By Derrick Ernst

March 26, 2026

Contracts

This one was pretty easy to see coming:

The extension that is. I can’t say I was expecting record-breaking $’s though. It does seem like the top talent of the league is becoming a “one up you” show. Don’t get me wrong, JSN is a talented player, but best in the league? I’ll leave that to you to decide. He has earned every bit of this contract, but he’s probably not doing his team any favors. JSN isn’t the only one. We’ve seen some ludicrous $’s thrown around this offseason, especially for QB’s and WR’s. This is the direction I wanted to head in today.

Related, I’m sure you saw this:

If you’re curious of how the salary cap has evolved, just envious a line on a chart going up and to the right, with no bumps along the way. I still believe there will come a time when the trend is bucked and for as much as I would hope to see this sooner rather than later, I think we’ll be waiting for a good while. Now for what I really wanted to get into, QB/WR contracts and salary cap concentration.

Let’s take a look at the largest QB/WR contract duo’s in the league (by AAV) and compare them to this year’s salary cap ($301M). Last year’s fantasy PPG layered in of course. Orange = multiple showings.

Bengals: $95.3M / 32% of cap

• J. Burrow (17 PPG): $55.0M

• J. Chase (16 PPG): $40.3M

Cowboys: $94.0M / 31% of cap

• D. Prescott (19 PPG): $60.0M

• C. Lamb (12 PPG): $34.0M

Cowboys: $87.3M / 29% of cap

• D. Prescott (19 PPG): $60.0M

• G. Pickens (14 PPG): $27.3M

Bengals: $83.8M / 28% of cap

• J. Burrow (17 PPG): $55.0M

• T. Higgins (12 PPG): $28.8M

Lions: $83.0M / 28% of cap

• J. Goff (18 PPG): $53.0M

• A. St. Brown (16 PPG): $30.0M

49ers: $83.0M / 28% of cap

• B. Purdy (20 PPG): $53.0M

• B. Aiyuk (n/a): $30.0M

Eagles: $83.0M / 28% of cap

• J. Hurts (19 PPG): $51.0M

• AJ Brown (12 PPG): $32.0M

Bills: $82.5M / 27% of cap

• J. Allen (21 PPG): $55.0M

• DJ Moore (9 PPG): $27.5M

Lions: $79.7M / 26% of cap

• J. Goff (18 PPG): $53.0M

• J. Williams (11 PPG): $26.7M

Eagles: $76.0M / 25% of cap

• J. Hurts (19 PPG): $51.0M

• D. Smith (10 PPG): $25.0M

A few things to note:

• 8 out of the top-10 duo’s have multiple showings. More like trio’s:

1) Bengals: $124.1M / 41% of cap

J. Burrow, J. Chase, T. Higgins

2) Cowboys: $121.3M / 40% of cap

D. Prescott, C. Lamb, G. Pickens

3) Lions: $109.7M / 36% of cap

J. Goff, A. St. Brown, J. Williams

4) Eagles: $108.0M / 36% of cap

J. Hurts, AJ Brown, D. Smith

• Not surprising, each of these four teams have finished top-ten in league scoring at least once over the past several seasons

• With it being almost certain B. Aiyuk is out the door, SF would drop from the top-10 and be replaced with SEA (Darnold & JSN)

• Curious where D. Jones and A. Pierce are coming in at? Assuming SF no longer makes the cut, IND would be 12th in the league with $72.5M between the two

Retirements

This one came across my notifications the other day:

“Started all” doesn’t mean “consecutive starts.” That’s how I read it at first but realized that wasn’t the case when I looked up the list of most consecutive NFL starts. In case you were wondering (regular season):

1) 297 games: Brett Farve (1992-2010)

2) 270 games: Jim Marshall (1961-1979)

3) 243 games: Bill Romanowski (1988-2003) and Philip Rivers (2006-2025)

One thing that isn’t talked about as much as it should be is the ability of staying on the field as a skill. Guys like these become a cornerstone for a franchise and they become guys that can be relied upon for fantasy too. I mean, it plays a pretty large part in having fantasy success.

Exhibit A. This stretch of years from Philip Rivers’ career:

Source: Fantasy Footballers

In this case “started all” and “consecutive starts” are one in the same. Besides Rivers and David here are some other notable names that hung up the cleats for good this past season:

Offense

RB: Boston Scott

WR: Adam Thielen, DJ Chark, Robert Woods, TY Hilton

OL: Drew Dalman, Ryan Kelly, Frank Ragnow, Tyron Smith, Terron Armstead, Ryan Ramczyk, Jason Peters, Rob Havenstein

Defense

LB: Za’Darius Smith, CJ Mosley

CB: Xavien Howard

Special Teams

K: Mason Crosby

These were the names that stood out to me, but I’m sure I missed a few. I feel like retirements these days across all sports are about who can go on the biggest and flashiest road show. Not here. Not with these names. There’s an appreciation with that. Their retirement is about their play and the entertainment they brought their fans. That’s a good reason to love the sport we do.

Here’s another reason why retirements in the NFL may lack flash (per Google). Makes you wonder who else will join these guys over the months to come?

OOO

We’re a few weeks out, but I wanted to let you guys know that there won’t be an issue published on Sunday, April 26. I’ll be at a bachelor party that weekend and you guys don’t need me to tell you that bachelor party and writing don’t make a good mix. Y’all will have to wait a few extra days to hear my thoughts around the NFL Draft.