The ink had barely dried before people were chirping, questioning the wisdom of the decision. They didn’t think it made sense to tie up that much money in a receiver, even one as talented as Demaryius Thomas. To them, the five-year, $70-million deal given to the wideout was destined to become an albatross for the organization, a contract that would prevent them from making necessary moves down the road.
On the surface, this position makes sense. After all, that’s a ton of money to give someone that plays a dependent position; no matter how good a wide receiver Thomas is, he can’t thrive without a quarterback throwing him the football. That’s a valid point, one that has been reinforced in recent years when high-priced free agent receivers (see Wallace, Mike) have flamed out with their new team because they didn’t have a capable QB as their triggerman.
In addition, there’s the growing sentiment that a team doesn’t need a first-rate wide receiver in order to win a championship. This stems from the fact that most of the recent franchises to hoist the Lombardi Trophy reached the NFL’s pinnacle without having a great wideout; in fact, it can be debated that the last Hall-of-Fame-caliber receiver to play on a Super Bowl winner was Michael Irvin, who won three titles more than two decades ago with the Cowboys.
But neither of those arguments is accurate, no matter what the data might indicate.
Sure, a receiver is only as good as his quarterback; that’s definitely true. But everything in the NFL is dependent on the guy behind center. If a team doesn’t have a good one, it doesn’t matter who else is on the roster; they have no shot of winning big without the right signal caller.
This year’s Buffalo Bills are a prime example of this fact. Rex Ryan may have the most-talented team in the league, but they aren’t going to win the Super Bowl. Why? Because they’ll trot out quarterbacks like Matt Cassell, EJ Manuel and Tyrod Taylor on a weekly basis; that’s a lot of incompetence to overcome, something that very few teams in the history of the NFL have been able to accomplish.
Everything revolves around the quarterback. Almost every roster in the league is the same from Nos. 2 to 53; they consist of about four to eight Pro Bowl players, a handful of up-and-coming talents, and a bunch of interchangeable parts. The guy behind center is what separates the haves from the have-nots.
And there’s nothing to suggest that one of those top-flight players can’t be a wide receiver. Having one is certainly not a roadblock to victory.
Yes, recent Super Bowl winners have largely fielded middle-of-the-road receiving corps. But that’s more of an aberration than a formula for success. During this same period of time, plenty of talented wideouts have helped their team reach the ultimate football stage, only to come up just short of the prize.
The Philadelphia Eagles couldn’t get over the hump, constantly serving as the bridesmaid in the NFC. But when they added Terrell Owens – a troubled-but-talented wideout – to the mix, Andy Reid’s team finally reached Super Bowl XXXIX. Losing by a field goal to the Patriots doesn’t diminish the importance of TO in Philly.
When the Cardinals shocked the football world by reaching Super Bowl XLIII, they did so with the best wideout in the league on their roster – Larry Fitzgerald. And if not for a 14-point swing on a pick-six in the waning moments of the first half, as well as one of the most amazing game-winning touchdown passes in NFL history, Arizona’s star receiver might have won MVP honors.
The year before, Randy Moss had one of the greatest pass-catching seasons in league history, hauling in 23 touchdowns to help the Patriots finish the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record. New England would have culminated the greatest year of all-time with a Super Bowl win if not for a miracle catch by David Tyree in the final moments of the game.
In 2009, both Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark posted 100-catch seasons for the Colts, providing the main targets for Peyton Manning during the second Super Bowl run for Indianapolis. Of course, a gutsy onside kick call by Sean Payton turned the tide of that game, helping the Saints (a team that didn’t mind throwing the ball all over the field with Drew Brees at the helm) pull the upset.
And just two seasons ago, the trio of Thomas, Eric Decker and Wes Welker helped Manning and the Broncos post the best offensive season in the history of pro football. Yes, they got steamrolled by the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, but 43-8 is what happens when the opening snap flies over the QB’s head and results in a safety; things tend to snowball.
Those are five examples in the past 11 seasons; each team could have easily won a title, if a play or two had gone differently. And if they had, the notion that a wide receiver isn’t necessary in order to win a Super Bowl wouldn’t exist; in fact, the opposite theory would probably be widely believed.
Super Bowls tend to be a coin-flip, a 50-50 proposition that can go either way. There’s no better example of this fact than the Patriots under Bill Belichick. The two times they’ve lost (by a combined seven points), they had much more talented teams than the four times they won (by a total of 13 points); a couple of breaks here and there determined the outcome.
It’s true that the 10 highest-paid receivers in the NFL this season will have combined to win zero Super Bowls. But that’s not exactly an anomaly.
Where else should a team spend its money? If wideout is a luxury, what positions are a necessity?
Left tackle is one that most people would say. The 10 highest-paid at that position in 2015 have yet to win a Super Bowl.
In the trenches on defense is another popular answer. There, only one of the 10 most-expensive players (Jason Pierre-Paul) has a ring.
Nowadays, cornerback is among the most-important positions in the game. But only two of the top 10 (Darrelle Revis and Richard Sherman) have won a Super Bowl.
In other words, there is no one position where investing in high-priced players directly correlates to victory – except for perhaps quarterback, where five of the 10 highest-paid players have hoisted a Lombardi Trophy.
Instead, it’s about building the right mix of talent, with the right signal caller at the helm and the right coaching staff calling the shots. That can be done in any number of ways.
Will the Demaryius Thomas contract prevent the Broncos from building that group down the road? Nope. Between the coming increases in the salary cap and the contracts that will be eligible to come off the books down the road (DeMarcus Ware and Ryan Clady, just to name two), Denver will have plenty of options when it comes to spending money to bolster the roster.
A high-priced wideout certainly doesn’t guarantee success. But it also doesn’t prevent it. That’s why the Broncos were smart to keep a bona fide star in town; now, they can worry about filling the other holes on the roster.
