How Gardner Minshew can become a $100M quarterback

What kind of performances does Gardner Minshew need to be the next $100 million quarterback?

Quarterback is the most important position in football without a doubt. While many say that defense wins games and championships, if you don’t have a solid signal-caller, you won’t win games either. It’s something the Jacksonville Jaguars are hoping to have with Gardner Minshew.

As quarterbacks are crucial to the success of any team, they get paid more than any position out there on the field, especially the top tier ones. Speaking of quarterbacks and money, what would current Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew need to do to be a $100 million player?

To start off, he’ll need to show that he can improve on his stats from last season. Last year, he threw for 3,271 yards on 285 completions for a completion rate of 60.6-percent. He also threw for 21 touchdowns over six interceptions while getting 150 first downs. He’s also not bad at running the ball himself either as he rushed for 344 yards in 67 attempts (5.1 average yards per run).

More from Jacksonville Jaguars News

• 5 potential cap casualties the Jacksonville Jaguars should be in on in 2023
• The Jacksonville Jaguars got so lucky with the 2021 NFL Draft
• Jacksonville Jaguars opt for continuity at RB, re-sign JaMycal Hasty
• Jaguars Mock Draft: Huge trade for a WR, add more help on offense
• 3 landing spots for Jacksonville Jaguars WR Marvin Jones in 2023 NFL free agency

Minshew was never a top prospect nor seen as a starting-caliber player until he was inserted into the starting role. This is why he was a sixth-round pick. Despite his success last season, he still has to prove to the Jaguars organization that he is the one they can trust with their offense for the future.

In order to show that he isn’t a “one-hit wonder” type player, he needs to up his stats as mentioned before. Something like 30-plus touchdowns, 4,500-plus yards, 350-plus completions, throw no more than six interceptions while upping his completion rate by at least 5-percent is a step in the right direction for Gardner Minshew to earn “set for the rest of your life” type of money.

As the Jaguars are expected to be bottom dwellers this season, many have pegged the organization to select a quarterback like Trevor Lawrence out of Clemson to be the franchise’s future playmaker. If Gardner Minshew can change people’s thoughts of this team – which he will have to do with strong performances and winning games, he will himself up nicely for a big pay raise when his rookie deal is over.

While I don’t think Gardner Minshew is close to being a $100-million player yet, he’s just entering his sophomore year at the professional level. If he can grow on his success, he could possibly get the biggest contract in team history which would exceed $100 million.