It’s official, Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions has become the NFL’s highest paid player going into the 2017-18 NFL regular season.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford just became the NFL’s highest paid player. CBS Sports reported that Stafford signed a five-year contract extension that will make him the highest paid player in NFL history.

While terms of the new deal were not disclosed, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said the extension is worth $135 million, which is an average of $27 million per year.

Stafford was going in to the season in the final year of a contract that paid him $17,666,667 per year. Before Stafford signed the new contract, Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was the highest paid player in the NFL after signing a new deal in June that pays him $25 million per year.

The fact that Stafford just became the highest paid player in the NFL came as a surprise to some, considering how he has performed over the years. Even though he is a very good quarterback, he isn’t one of the top five quarterbacks in the league.

Since coming across a good quarterback in the NFL is a difficult process these days, it makes sense that the Lions will do everything they can to keep him with the team for a long time.

The 29-year-old quarterback was the top pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, but the first two years of his career were derailed by injuries.

In 2011, a healthy Stafford showed why the Lions made him the top pick in the draft and led the team to their first playoff appearance since 1999.
Since being drafted by the Lions, Stafford ranks eighth in passing yards and ninth in touchdown passes. Last year, he had one of the best seasons of his career. He completed 65 percent of his passes, threw for 4, 327 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Stafford was also an early MVP candidate before his numbers fell off down the stretch after injuring his thumb.