Come To Think Of It: Eli, Not Peyton, Now Richest Manning In The NFL

New York Giants QB Eli Manning has been signed to a six-year contract extension that will pay him $97 million. Sure, his brother Peyton, has a seven-year, $98 million deal, but his guaranteed money is slightly less.

And that is where you should look when assessing the value of a contract in the NFL.

For, unlike baseball and basketball, football contracts aren't guaranteed. A player can be cut without his team having to pay the full value of the deal.

In Peyton's case, he is guaranteed $34.5 million. So Eli trumps his older brother by $500,000, having $35 million dollars in guaranteed money.

When compared with other quarterbacks, Eli's contract really isn't so outrageous, either.

Rookie Matt Stafford's contract with the Lions calls for six years, $78 million, with an NFL-high $41.7 million guaranteed.

Atlanta's Matt Ryan's contract is for six years, $72 million, with $34.75 million guaranteed. 

Tom Brady's contract does look like quite a bargain, in comparison, despite his season-long injury last year. He took $60 million over six years with the Pats.

But overall, Eli Manning's deal is not out of line with what we should expect a Super Bowl-winning quarterback to make.

Still, it's quite a haul for a quarterback who many in New York wanted to run out of town, along with their head coach, prior to winning the Super Bowl.

Of course, Eli's brother can always point to all the additional money he makes off the field if he wants to. Peyton has become the lague's spokesman, for the most part, and has earned a lot of money in endorsement deals over the years.

The younger Manning, had led the Giants to a Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots in February 2008 and was named the MVP of the game. He was in the final year of the contract he signed as the No. 1 overall pick in 2004.

Imagine how happy this contract makes San Diego's Philip Rivers, who is going into the final year of his deal.

Rivers is good, but he has an open space on his ring finger right now, come to think of it.