After reading or seeing the movie “The Blind Side,”you might have brought your son up to be a tackle. After all, the impression at least was that’s the position where NFL teams were dishing out the money.
In 2008, a year after Michael Lewis’ book came, out seven offensive tackles were drafted in the first round. In 2009, four offensive tackles — including the book’s main character Michael Oher — in the first 23 picks.
But instead of teaching your son how to block the quarterback (and eat a lot), maybe you should be spending your time teaching him how to backpedal. Sure, quarterbacks, on average, still earn the most money, but cornerbacks are number two, according to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, who published this interesting data below in the publication’s NFL preview issue. Not only that, cornerbacks have experienced the second greatest increase in salary over the last nine years.
Including all bonuses, seven cornerbacks made at least $9 million in 2009. And the average 2010 number at that position figures to go up if the Jets ever do wind up signing Darrelle Revis.
POSITION | 2001 SALARY (RANK) | 2009 SALARY (RANK) | % CHANGE |
Wide Receiver | $3.86m (8) | $9.88m (3) | +156% |
Cornerback | $4.18m (7) | $9.96m (2) | +138% |
Quarterback | $6.93m (1) | 14.65m (1) | +111% |
Safety | $3.22m (9) | $6.34m (8) | +97% |
Offensive Line | $4.51m (5) | $8.45m (5) | +87% |
Linebacker | $4.76m (4) | $8.30m (6) | +74% |
Defensive End | $5.39m (2) | $8.99m (4) | +67% |
Running Back | $4.22m (6) | $6.62m (7) | +57% |
Defensive Tackle | $5.08m (3) | $6.06m (9) | +19% |
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