MJ Acosta of NFL Network joined the "Good Morning Football" cast on Monday morning, and the group took a look at the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, none of whom made the playoffs in 2018.
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford signed a then-historic five-year deal worth up to $135 million in 2017. That paved the way for four other quarterbacks, including Jimmy Garoppolo of the San Francisco 49ers, to best that $27 million average with Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers topping the group at an average of $33.5 million.
Below are the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL based on average salary per season.
| AAV | 2018 Record | Playoffs | |
| Aaron Rodgers | $33.5M | 6-9-1 | No |
| Matt Ryan | $30.0M | 7-9 | No |
| Kirk Cousins | $28.0M | 8-7-1 | No |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | $27.5M | 1-2 | No |
| Matthew Stafford | $27.0M | 6-10 | No |
It's unknown how Garoppolo would have done in 2018 had his season not been cut short by the torn ACL he suffered during Week 3. The rest of the quarterbacks on the list were able to play through their full 16-game schedules. San Francisco stumbled to a 4-12 record in 2018 and was 3-10 without Garoppolo.
The "Good Morning Football" cast asked, of these names, who is most likely to be in the playoffs during the 2019 season? Acosta selected Garoppolo.
"This has to be his redemption year, right? The injury early on in the season last year but he's got (Kyle) Shanahan," Acosta said, "ideally, everyone back healthy. They've got to make some wise choices in the draft with that high draft pick and be very, very strategic in free agency, and I think they could have a very good chance.
"But they've given him all this money. We haven't seen it come to fruition or those dividends come back to them. I think he has more than enough motivation in terms of zeros."
Which Top 5 highest-paid QB will make the postseason in 2019? 🤔@MJAcostaTV 👉 @JimmyG_10 @Nate13Burleson 👉 @KirkCousins8 @PSchrags 👉 ???
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— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) February 11, 2019