Quarterbacks Who Made the Super Bowl While Still On Their Rookie Contract (Since 2011)

Since the new rookie scale was introduced to the NFL CBA in 2011, there’s been a common theme for many teams that win their conference and play in the Super Bowl: a cheap quarterback.

The NFL salary cap might be hundreds of millions of dollars, but there’s still a big difference between a starting quarterback that makes $1 million and one that makes $50 million. 

Teams that get strong contributors from their young, cheap quarterbacks often have the depth of talent across the 53-man roster to make a playoff run and reach the Super Bowl.

Do those teams ultimately win the last game of the season? Not really. The last 15 years of Super Bowl results is full of young, cheap quarterbacks losing to well-paid Hall of Famers. 

Even still, it’s quite common to see the young, inexpensive rosters make a run through the postseason, and these 2025 playoffs have been no exception. 

Super Bowl LX is somewhat unique in that it will feature two cheap quarterbacks, one of whom is not still on a rookie deal. But only Patriots quarterback Drake Maye will add his name to the list of guys who drove his team to the final game of the season on the back of his commercially efficient contract.

*Indicates a Player Whose Team Won the Super Bowl

Quarterbacks Who Made the Super Bowl While Still On Their Rookie Contract

Notes for Rookie Quarterback Contracts

Most of these cases are pretty straightforward, but I’ll include a few addendum notes here just for extra detail.

Patrick Mahomes was playing out the tail end of his rookie contract when he played in back-to-back Super Bowls to end the 2019 and 2020 seasons. His team option kicked in for 2021.

Carson Wentz never played in Super Bowl LII at the end of the 2017 season because he was hurt. However, since he and backup quarterback Nick Foles barely made $5 million between the two of them, he still neatly fits the parameters of a team that had maximum cap flexibility and roster depth because of a cheap starting quarterback.

Cam Newton was playing on his fifth-year team option and had already signed a contract extension when the Panthers won the NFC in 2015.

In many ways, Russell Wilson was like the original cheap quarterback that alerted many of us to the new CBA dynamic. Seattle’s back-to-back Super Bowl appearances corresponded with the only two seasons Wilson collected less than $1 million in cash compensation. 

After the Super Bowl against the Patriots, Wilson signed an $88 million extension; the Seahawks never made another NFC Championship Game again with Wilson and Pete Carroll at the helm. 

In hindsight, the 49ers’ 2012 surge with second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick makes a lot more sense.