Pat Murphy contract details further underscore why Craig Counsell wasn't worth paying

After a lot of tense speculation, the Milwaukee Brewers finally locked down their leading man on a new contract, getting Pat Murphy's signature on an extension that will keep him in town through at least 2028.

New details of the deal have started to emerge, including a salary that, while making Murphy one of the better-compensated skippers in the league, pales in comparison to the largest manager deals out there.

To clear up any confusion: Murphy's new contract takes what he was previously owed in 2026 and adds nearly $9 million to it, not including his club option for 2029. Though the financial breakdown won't work out quite so cleanly, you can take that to mean that the Brewers' manager will make about $4.5 million in both 2027 and 2028.

Or, you know, about half of what the Chicago Cubs paid Craig Counsell.

Brewers got better end of the stick when Craig Counsell left for Cubs

It's hard to believe how well Counsell's departure has gone for the Brewers. Murphy has won back-to-back NL Manager of the Year awards, matching the Crew's own back-to-back division titles. Oh, and Milwaukee bested Chicago in the 2025 NLDS for good measure.

There are three years remaining on the original $40 million contract Counsell signed with the Cubs, meaning he and Murphy are aligned in their respective timelines. Though that still allows time for the former Brewers skipper to forge his own legacy in Chicago, his head-to-head comparison with Murphy is off to a rough start, especially since he's been making a league-leading $8 million per year to manage the North Siders.

The fact that Milwaukee hasn't missed a beat since losing Counsell (and David Stearns) is really a testament to their organizational strengths, from scouting to player development. But it's important to recognize that this ship could have started sinking the moment it lost its captain. Murphy was the one who stepped up and righted it before calamity struck, all while rejecting the Cubs' advances to join Counsell as his bench coach in the Windy City.

Now that the skipper's deal is squared away, the Brewers can turn their attention to the 2026 regular season. They'll have to fend off another spirited challenge from Counsell and the Cubs for their fifth division title in six years before trying to overcome their white whale (the Dodgers) for the right to play for the first World Series title in franchise history.