In an offseason full of quarterback controversies and contractual issues, the Los Angeles Rams avoided a crisis of their own with Matthew Stafford. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on July 28 that LA reworked Stafford’s contract, preventing the star from holding out. While the Rams were fortunate enough to avoid a QB contract controversy now, they might be in trouble years down the road in a post-Stafford world.

Quarterback contracts have ballooned within the last few years and they’re only going to skyrocket from here. Case in point, this is how much the market has changed between the time Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence signed extensions following their three seasons in the league:

Some passers (looking at you Jordan Love) have felt they’re entitled to hefty paydays without showing enough on the field to justify it. The thinking is that if you don’t pay your QBs now, they’re going to leave for much, much greener pastures. Essentially, franchises are being backed into a corner and expected to pay signal callers anywhere from $50-55 million annually — at the very least — regardless of their accomplishments. Take a look at some of the highest paid starters in the sport on a yearly basis right now:

Out of that list, only Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts led their current teams to a Super Bowl appearance while Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson have led their respective squads to a conference title game. Love and Lawrence are being paid $55 million despite having one playoff victory. Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert have yet to secure a playoff win. Something is very wrong with this picture.

Sure, quarterbacks don’t grow on trees, yet where is the accountability? Where are the teams holding their QBs to a higher standard if they fail to deliver in the clutch? There’s no such thing as pressure on those who play the most important position anymore.

Per Over the Cap, Stafford is the 14th-highest paid passer in the league according to total value and has the 16th-highest annual salary at $40 million. Clearly there aren’t that many quarterbacks better than Matt. Father Time has prevented Stafford from long-term contractual security, despite having a Super Bowl win on his resume.

The QB market is an absolute disgrace but nothing about where it’s trending should not come as a surprise. Quarterbacks will continue raking in the dough because not having a reasonably capable passer in such a pass-happy league will sentence any team to irrelevancy. What can realistically be done about this?

Well, the simple answer is to just watch the chaos unfold. Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy and C.J. Stroud will be paid eventually. Dak will likely become the first QB to earn $60 million per year, despite his abysmal 2-5 postseason record. Hard to imagine what the market will look like once Matthew Stafford retires and the Rams have a young gun at the controls.

Regardless of how well the Rams’ future quarterback performs, the front office will be forced to meet his demands. The risk of players sitting out is too dire, particularly when they play under center. This is an issue LA will have to solve years from now and one can only imagine how costly the contracts will be by then.