Comparing the cost of Sam vs. Zach Dan Leberfeld

So what is the financial difference between the two signal-callers?

“To stay with Sam (Darnold), if you want to stay with it financially, Sam is I think $4.8 (million) this year; let’s round that up to $5 million,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on Tuesday. “$20 million would be the fifth-year option; you’ve got $30 million would be if you franchised him the following year. So the Jets have Sam under control there for those three years at 18.3 per year, which is a pretty reasonable number if you take into context the number we just saw yesterday (with Dak Prescott).

“But if they decided to trade Sam, you go and draft somebody, which I would say would be Zach Wilson, you’re looking at four years of control, before you get to that fifth-year option, at $8.7 million per year. So you’re going to save $10 million per year on average. You’re going to get an extra year of control. So that’s the financial difference.”

Jeremiah, who is good friends with Jets GM Joe Douglas from their days as Baltimore scouts, knows his old pal has a tough call to make.

“So if you’re the Jets, with that (#2) pick, which is going to be the biggest decision that Joe Douglas will make as a general manager for that team, you’ve got the ‘Stay with Sam’ and you’ve got the ‘Draft a QB’ plan,” said Jeremiah.

It will be interesting to see which plan Douglas chooses.

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