One player is good at his job, while another player is a likely Pro Football Hall of Famer. The first player just got paid a lot of money, while the second player waits. This is the respective fate of the Atlanta Falcons' Matthew Bergeron and the Indianapolis Colts' Quenton Nelson.
On Saturday, NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that Atlanta and their offensive guard had agreed to a huge four-year extension worth as much as $96 million. $60 million was guaranteed. To be clear: Bergeron is a good player, but not yet a great one. The highest he has ranked in his three years in the NFL at his position, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), is 20th.
Nelson, though...he is special. He has never missed making a Pro Bowl in his eight seasons, and he's been named First-Team All-Pro three times, the same number of times he has been named Second-Team All-Pro. In the last two seasons, Nelson has ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, at his position, according to PFF.
Indianapolis Colts' Quenton Nelson has to be smiling after new Atlanta Falcons deal with Matthew Bergeron
The problem for the Colts is that, just like the excellent running back Jonathan Taylor, Nelson is entering the final year of his current contract. General manager Chris Ballard is often slow to sign players to extensions, and he is following that trend with Nelson.
Meanwhile, Bergeron also has one year left on his current contract, and he was signed to an extension. That might not have Nelson fuming, but it should.
Ballard might have his reasons for not working out proactive extensions with players, but Nelson (and Taylor, too) need to be outliers to that theory. Nelson isn't simply a good player; he is a generational one. If anyone deserves to get paid and not go through any contract drama, it is Quenton Nelson, left guard of the Indianapolis Colts.
Now, due to the Bergeron deal, Nelson should want even more money than he might have before Saturday. If Bergeron is making $24 million a season, how much is Nelson worth?
Sure, the Falcons player is 26 years old, and Nelson is 30, but the level that the Indy guard has reached, and still does, should outweigh the age factor. Bergeron is never going to be as good as Nelson, but he will make more money than Nelson has ever seen unless Ballard tries to aggressively make his best offensive lineman happy.
The truth is that Quenton Nelson is going to get paid a bunch of money next offseason when he is a free agent either way. Maybe that won't be with the Colts, but some team will give him the money he wants. Indianapolis might not be able to franchise tag him, either. The team might need to place the tag on Jonathan Taylor.
$24 million annually should be $2 million less than Nelson's agents ask the Colts for. The future Hall of Famer deserves that, and someone will give that amount to him or more.
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