If Robert Kraft follows through on what he has been saying, Tom Brady will remain a New England Patriot beyond the 2010 NFL season. If Colts owner Jim Irsay can put his plan of making Peyton Manning the highest-paid player in football into action, Manning will be staying put as well. For the sake of this discussion, we’ll assume the option of either quarterback skipping town is out of the question. With that in mind, who should be offered the more lucrative contract when they inevitably ink their new long-term extensions?
In order to determine which franchise quarterback deserves a bigger payday, we’ve pitted the two against one another in five categories: statistics, playoff performance, durability, hardware, and MVP factor. Let’s see how they match up:
The Numbers
This is the most basic category. Here, we simply look at the career numbers of Manning and Brady and give the quarterback with the better statistics the edge:
Brady: 30,844 Yards, 225 TDs, 99 INTs, 63.3 Comp. Pct., 93.3 Passer Rating
Manning: 50,128 Yards, 366 TDs, 181 INTs, 64.8 Comp. Pct., 95.2 Passer Rating
The fact that the passer ratings are so close means the two Hall of Famers have had astonishingly similar careers statistically. However, Manning has Brady beat in every category except interceptions. The fact that Brady has thrown far less TDs and picks is probably a reflection of Manning having played in 63 more NFL games than he has. Stats are stats, and while they may not be the most revealing aspect of a player’s value, they count for something. Edge: Manning
Playoff Performance
Anyone who knows anything about the last decade of NFL football knows where this one is headed. Manning’s playoff record is 9-9. He’s 1-1 in Super Bowl play and threw a pick-six to seal the loss in last year’s Super Bowl against the Saints. His passer rating in the postseason is 87.6, which is a decent chunk lower than his career rating. Although subscribers of the “what have you done for me lately” theory may want to bash Brady here, he has an impressive 14-4 playoff record and is 3-1 in Super Bowls. His passer of 85.5 is actually worse than Manning’s, but last year’s outlier of 49.1 in the Wild Card round against Baltimore hurt that number quite a bit. Edge: Brady
Durability
Peyton Manning has never missed a start in his NFL career. Tom Brady blew out his knee and missed an entire season. Obviously, Manning has been luckier than Brady with injuries and it isn’t the fault of the player, but it counts for something when looking at a long term deal. Brady looked shaky at times last season and it was obvious his rhythm was off a bit after missing all of 2008. He’s also had some shoulder problems, cracked ribs, and broken fingers. All quarterbacks get banged up throughout their careers. Brady’s just been beaten up a little more than Manning to this point. Edge: Manning
Hardware
Super Bowl Rings: Brady — 3, Manning — 1
Super Bowl MVPs: Brady — 2, Manning — 1
NFL MVPs: Brady — 1, Manning — 3
That’s six pieces of hardware for Brady and five for Manning. Super Bowl rings should probably be given the most weight int this category anyway, because that’s the ultimate goal of any organization and it’s what owners will be thinking about the most when negotiating a contract extension with a player. Edge: Brady
MVP Factor
By “MVP factor” we don’t mean how many Super Bowl MVPs or NFL MVPs a player has won (obviously, considering we just went over that in the “Hardware” section). MVP factor means how important the player is to his team. If you removed Peyton Manning from the Colts or Tom Brady from the Patriots, what would happen?
Unfortunately for Brady, Manning’s never missed signifcant time. When Brady missed all of 2008 with a knee injury, Matt Cassel led the Pats to an 11-5 record. They missed the playoffs, but were the only team with an 11-5 record to ever do so. Obviously, Cassel is nothing compared to Brady, but if the Patriots chose to use that season as a bargaining chip during negotiations (I doubt they will), they probably could. Edge: Manning
Verdict
Based on the categories we used, Manning would deserve a slightly heftier deal. He’ll probably end up getting more money anyway. However, it’s important to note that the two have had remarkably similar careers to date. Brady may be behind Manning statistically, but he has more than compensated for it in the post season. I can honestly say I believe the two deserve the same exact contract right down to the penny. In the world of professional sports, we all know that will never happen.
