Marcus Mariota took a pay cut in order to stay with the Raiders. But, in exchange, the backup quarterback received a no-trade clause, according to a league source who spoke with Greg A. Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal (on Twitter).
Mariota was originally set to earn $10.725MM, a hefty price for a QB2. Rather than getting released or traded, he agreed to lower his salary to $3.5MM. Of course, Mariota’s new deal makes him much more attractive to teams in need of QB support, so Mariota insisted on maintaining some control over his future.
No-trade clauses are pretty rare in the NFL. As of late February, these were the only nine players in the NFL with veto power in their contracts:
- Drew Brees, QB (Saints)
- Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, OL (Chiefs)
- Jimmy Garoppolo, QB (49ers
- Jimmy Graham, TE (Bears)
- DeAndre Hopkins, WR (Cardinals)
- Patrick Mahomes, QB (Chiefs)
- Deshaun Watson, QB (Texans)
- J.J. Watt, DL (Cardinals)
- Russell Wilson, QB (Seahawks)
Now, Mariota is an unexpected member of the club, so any teams with interest in the former second overall pick may have to look elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.