The top 5 biggest Quarterback Contract Holdouts in NFL History (2024)

The quarterback contract holdout is part of the NFL's salary structure, which also reflects an equally complicated dynamic between teams and players related to pay performance and expectations. Here's a closer look at NFL history's five biggest quarterback contract holdouts, including what happened and why it mattered.

1. Eli Manning, New York Giants (2011)

Key Details and Timeline

Eli Manning, quarterback for the New York Giants, was in a sticky wicket. After taking the Giants to a Super Bowl win in 2008 and an impressive showing during the 2010 season as well, Manning essentially asked for a new contract that could pay him like one of the best quarterbacks in football.

Holdout Duration: Manning held out for less than a week by officially holding out and threatening to do so.

Resolution: The Giants ended up signing Manning to a six-year, $97.5 million extension and making him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL at that time

Reasons and Motivations

There was no mystery about Manning's motivations, the money that sealed his long-term financial future, partly to compensate for driving teams to reach much of its recent success. Understandably, the Giants were hesitant to give him what he wanted and thus generated tension.

Effect on Career And Team Performance

After resolving the contract dispute, Manning led the Giants to win another Super Bowl in 2012. It all worked out well for him and the team as he solidified his job, got that extension, and put a feather in his cap of why starting quarterbacks with titles know their worth.

Notable Outcomes

Manning's standoff helped fuel the growing price tag of top-flight quarterbacks and altered how those negotiations were conducted, moving toward more player-friendly extensions with key players.

2. Drew Brees, San Diego Chargers (2005)

Key Details and Timeline

In 2005, Drew Brees had his first Pro Bowl-caliber season with the San Diego Chargers but still more or less found himself getting phased out of town due to a contract dispute.

Long-Term Deal: Brees did not hold out in the traditional sense. He was unable to reach an agreement on a long-term deal.

Resolution: The Chargers did draft Phillip Rivers, and Brees ended up signing a one-year deal to play the Season under an $8 million tender.

Reasons and Motivations

Brees wanted a deal that matched his future worth as the Saints' franchise quarterback. However, the Chargers were hesitant to invest, particularly after they drafted Rivers, resulting in Brees and team history having difficulty reconciling.

Career and Team Performance

The latter played out to where Brees left the Chargers following 2005. He had an illustrious career with the New Orleans Saints, culminating in a Super Bowl victory and multiple passing records.

Notable Outcomes

Brees's holdout and the fallout from his exit are sure to remind any team how much more costly it gets when they cannot lock down their best guys. It illustrated how a quarterback's success could be as much about whether or not his team is willing to invest in him.

3. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers (2017)

Key Details and Timeline

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger were locked in their heated contract talks.

Holdout Length: Roethlisberger never held out but voiced his displeasure with the contract.

Outcome: The Steelers later converted his deal into a two-year, $68 million extension.

Reasons and Motivations

His motivations were also, in part at least, about getting the security and recognition he would feel that being one of the league's best quarterbacks singled him out to receive. He hit free agency last year and was lowballed badly compared to some huge deals signed by other quarterbacks.

Effects on Career and Team Performance

Roethlisberger channeled his anger into a successful season as he led the Steelers back to the playoffs. But that was only enough for the team to miss out on making it all of the way.

Notable Outcomes

The Roethlisberger saga also underscored the quarterback gold rush and how contract negotiations can change the dynamic within a locker room, for better or worse.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dak Prescott (@_4dak)

4. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (2020)

Key Details and Timeline

Dak Prescott made his 2020 holdout one of the most hyped contract disputes in recent NFL years. Prescott is coming off a statistically overrated season in 2019 and wanted the long-term contract to make him feel valued.

Prescott Holdout: Prescott was not known to have threatened a training camp holdout, but he made it clear from Day 1 of this offseason that his objective was to sign long-term.

Outcome: By March 2021, the Cowboys and Prescott agreed to a four-year deal worth $160 million.

Reasons and Motivations

For Prescott, those four-year motivations were purely financial security and the status of being a franchise-tagged quarterback. The Cowboys baulked at that, leading to a drawn-out negotiation.

How'd it ImpactHis Career and the Team's Performance?

Prescott admits that he was a holdout and that contract negotiations distracted him during the 2020 season. But he returned and led the Cowboys to postseason play, securing his position as an upper-tier quarterback.

Notable Outcomes

The scenario surrounding Prescott furthered the trend of quarterbacks using their play as leverage to negotiate huge contracts, which represented a new era and threshold for quarterback compensation in the NFL.

5. Russell Wilson, Seahawks (2015)

Key Details and Timeline

Years ago, he had just won a Super Bowl in only his third NFL season and was about to head into the final year of his rookie contract.

Holdout Time: Wilson did not hold out but expressed intentions of a new contract.

Resolution: After some consternation, the Seahawks gave Wilson a four-year, $87.6 million extension.

Reasons and Motivations

It was obvious that Wilson wanted to be rewarded for his contributions to the team's success and solidify his future. That led to tension between the Seahawks and Thomas, as Seattle initially balked at his contract demands.

Career and Team Performance.

With the contract squabble behind him, Wilson was free to play even better this season. Seattle made the playoffs, and Wilson appeared to be a playoff-caliber quarterback.

Notable Outcomes

The standoff on Wilson forced open the higher price for elite quarterbacks, was the tyranny to come and insisted that top players in no case work without long-term security.

Larger Quarterback Holdout Trends and Variables

Financial Considerations

In many cases, quarterback holdouts are about money and making sure players get compensated for a career that can end in the blink of an eye because it is possible to suffer one serious injury. Salaries of the elite quarterbacks have increased with demand, leading to a competitive market in which such players may feel entitled to top dollar.

Strategic Factors

The decision of where to draft a franchise quarterback becomes intrinsically linked to how to balance the entire salary cap and roster composition for teams. Contentious negotiations often arise as teams balance their desire to keep a player and win now against committing significant dollars to one investment.

Evolving Market Dynamics

The quarterback market has changed significantly, even in the past few years. Players like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow have set the new bar, which is impacting the way other quarterbacks view their next moves more quickly. Holdouts are becoming a trend.

Quarterback holdouts have defined part of the NFL landscape, an intricate dance between what the player wants in his professional life and how or if those desires can align with a team's strategic plan for success. Also known as... MARKET Value. In one shape or another, it sounds like the latter might prove true for years perhaps long afterward.