{"id":878328,"date":"2026-11-07T12:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/878328\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T12:42:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:42:25","slug":"broncos-qb-bo-nix-is-worth-baker-mayfield-money-nfl-qbs-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/878328\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos QB Bo Nix is worth Baker Mayfield money, NFL QBs say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that Nix is fixed<\/a>, isn\u2019t it time for the Broncos to engage in a little Quid Pro Bo?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cProbably. Probably,\u201d former Broncos quarterback Hugh Millen<\/a> told me over the phone a few days ago when I mentioned Bo Nix. \u201cI\u2019m going to throw Latin at you: Finis coronat opus. OK? (It means), \u2018The end crowns the work.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019m not trying to be hoity-toity with a Latin phrase, but I kind of like them, because they\u2019re little snippets of wisdom. And if our ancestors were thinking that 2,500 years ago, that tells me that it\u2019s probably part of the human experience. People have been rushing to judgment for 2,500 years and they want to make decisions like (saying), \u2018That\u2019s going to be a lousy statue.\u2019 Well, let\u2019s watch. Let him finish the statue. And then we\u2019ll judge it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Broncos<\/a> (6-2) will wrap up the front nine of what\u2019s already been a remarkable season \u2014<\/a>\u00a0given the schedule, the play-calling duties,<\/a> and\u00a0the injuries<\/a> \u2014 on Sunday in Charlotte, against another of coach Sean Payton\u2019s old NFC South pals, the 3-4 Carolina Panthers. What\u2019s that? Oh. Right. Sorry. That\u2019s the \u201cFirst-place 3-4 Panthers,\u201d to you, good sir, making this a battle of division leaders, only the way Dodgers ($339 million payroll) versus Guardians ($74.5) is a \u201cbattle\u201d of division leaders.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the Panthers, former Carolina quarterback Baker Mayfield, now slinging it (sometimes) for the Bucs,<\/a>\u00a0got\u00a0a three-year, $165-million contract extension earlier this season.<\/a> That means, in terms of average annual value, Mayfield makes the same bucks \u2014 $55 million on average \u2014 as Josh Alen ($55 million), Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love, and Matt Stafford.<\/a><\/p>\n

You know how a massive contract for a good-but-not-great player sort of blows up the market for everybody else? Well, thanks to our buddy Baker, Broncos Country best buckle up.<\/p>\n

Nix\u2019s rookie contract with the Broncos, which pays No. 10 a cap-friendly $5.08 million this season and $5.9 million in 2027, expires after next season and includes a fifth-year club option for 2028. The Broncos have until the end of this regular season, Nix\u2019s third, until May 2027 to declare whether they\u2019re exercrising that fifth-year option or declining it. OverTheCap.com estimates that Nix\u2019s fifth-year salary would be worth $29.9 million and be fully guaranteed.<\/a><\/p>\n

Because of that Mayfield extension, Nix\u2019s reps have to be dreaming of a money pit so deep that Scrooge McDuck could do a crawl stroke through the middle of it.<\/a><\/p>\n

Just call up Baker\u2019s numbers and stack them up next to Bo\u2019s:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Mayfield since 2024<\/a>: 39 regular-season games, 70 passing TDs, 29 picks, 66.9% completion rate, 8.872 yards, 97.2 passer rating, six regular-season fourth-quarter comebacks, 20-19 team regular-season record as a starter.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Nix since\u00a0 2024:<\/a> 42 regular-season games, 63 passing TDs, 26 picks, 63.9% completion rate, 9,199 yards, 89.3 passer rating, 12 regular-season fourth-quarter comebacks, 30-12 team regular-season record as a starter.<\/p>\n

In five of those eight categories, Bo grades out better. So if Baker is worth $55 million per year, just in sheer market value, isn\u2019t Nix now worth closer to $56-58 million annually? If not more? Especially if Dak Prescott is worth $60 million and Patrick Mahomes, whom you just went toe-to-toe with, is making $64 million?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I believe so,\u201d ex-Broncos QB Jake Plummer told me Friday<\/a>, on his way to his old stomping grounds at Arizona State for the CU-Sun Devils tilt this weekend. \u201cAnd the reason why is, you look in the stands and the number No. 10 jerseys around, you look at his impact, the kind of kid he is, what he\u2019s already done for that organization, and just his rookie contract alone. (Nix) is going to garner that because he deserves it, and he\u2019s been showing us that he deserves it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the game. Money\u2019s going to get paid, especially if you\u2019re winning games. If you win games, you deserve to get paid. And whatever Bo gets paid, he\u2019s probably getting underpaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The counterargument: Nix\u2019s \u201cclutch\u201d gene is a thing, sure, but his success might also be a byproduct of fortunate circumstances. Namely, that he\u2019s a.) playing for Sean Payton, one of the best offensive coaches of the 21st century; and b.) he\u2019s got one of the defenses in football repeatedly shutting the door, early and late, until the moment in each game when Clark Kent changes into Super Bo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing is, when you start living by making a comeback at the end of the second half all the time, you saw Kansas City do that a couple of years ago,\u201d Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon<\/a> told me earlier this week. \u201cAnd then last year, it didn\u2019t work as well. So I don\u2019t know how much you can just rely on coming from behind every time, especially in the playoffs, when, say, your defense gives up more than a couple of (scores), and now you\u2019re down 14 points in the fourth quarter against a really good football team. Are you going to be able to come back and do it?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair point. Although Nix and the Broncos did trail a pretty good Chiefs bunch by 11, 24-13, with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter last Sunday, only to score 15 unanswered and pull one out. The Broncos are 7-7 since the \u201924 season when the opposition scores 24 points or more, but Nix, after last Sunday, has now won six of his last nine (6-3) when he has to score 25 points or more to snatch a victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know ($55 million) is a lot for a guy that\u2019s highest rated in the fourth quarter, but overall, he\u2019s not that highly as rated,\u201d Moon continued. \u201cSo I\u2019m sure (Broncos management) is going to look at all that. Because when you pay a guy that type of money, now you\u2019ve got to start getting rid of some of those guys on that defensive side of the ball that make you what you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, the Broncos have to figure out whether they can afford to extend cornerback Riley Moss, slot back Ja\u2019Quan McMillian, or both. Evan Engram, Brandon Jones, Marvin Mims, Ben Powers, Moss and McMillian are all slated to become unrestricted free agents after this season.<\/a> And trade-target dreams such as Colts running back Jonathan Taylor<\/a> and Titans running back Tony Pollard have 2026 cap numbers of $16.2 million and $9.26 million, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, if you think you\u2019re in a Super Bowl window \u2026\u201d Millen stressed. \u201cLet\u2019s see how the team develops around (Nix). I\u2019ll tell you this: It\u2019s hard to find franchise QBs that can win you a Super Bowl. I haven\u2019t seen enough evidence to conclude that he can\u2019t. My urgency wouldn\u2019t be around thinking about Bo Nix\u2019s replacement. My urgency would be, \u2018Hey, get better around Bo Nix.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Finis coronat opus, baby. But know this, too: If you\u2019re going to crown Nix\u2019s backside,<\/a> that price, like this season, is only going in one direction. And that\u2019s up.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now that Nix is fixed, isn\u2019t it time for the Broncos to engage in a little Quid Pro…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":878329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[382,34715,7,42232,10148,38205,2858,20403,45695,76511,16370,684,16192,301,2863,187,3943,28551,3726,5245,20404,86228,5440,16193,2469,1638,165,6324,6,9,302,1637,6325,20406,4098,8131,66,198,1392,13349,91009,46784],"class_list":["post-878328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-arizona","tag-baker-mayfield","tag-basketball","tag-ben-powers","tag-bo-nix","tag-brandon-jones","tag-broncos","tag-broncos-country","tag-broncos-offense","tag-broncos-quarterbacks","tag-broncos-takes","tag-charlotte","tag-dak-prescott","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-evan-engram","tag-football","tag-hall-of-fame","tag-jaquan-mcmillian","tag-jake-plummer","tag-joe-burrow","tag-jordan-love","tag-kansas","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-latest-headlines","tag-more-broncos-news","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-nuggets","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-pro-football-hall-of-fame","tag-riley-moss","tag-sean-keeler","tag-sean-payton","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-sun-devils","tag-super-bowl","tag-trevor-lawrence","tag-warren-moon"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}