Clearly, it’s well known just how lucrative the NFL business can be, but even then, when it comes to the salaries of the highest-paid players in American football, the numbers are frankly obscene.
It’s true that many on this list of top ten highest-paid NFL players have earned their salaries off the back of years of service, others because they are sure to be the next big thing; one thing to note right off the bat is the absence of a certain Tom Brady, who sits number 17 on this list.
Though there’s no need to feel sorry for the 44-year-old seven-time Super Bowl champion as he still draws in $25 million a year just in terms of his salary as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, and by all accounts, his wife, Gisele Bundchen, has a higher net worth, so they won’t be short of money this Christmas.
You’ll note that Patrick Mahomes leads this list, having come off the back of three great seasons, but in all honesty, he’s not the reason that the Kansas City Chiefs are near the top of the picks when it comes to sports betting guides, with last year’s Super Bowl finalists sitting in first and second spot in terms of NFL futures betting right now.
It’s also no surprise that all ten players on this list are quarterbacks as this makes sense as they are the key players on any organization, but still, one would have imagined there would be a spot for top players in other positions among the big earners.
For the record, the highest-paid player who is not a quarterback comes in the form of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who is placed at 13th, sandwiched between Jimmy Garoppolo and outside linebacker T.J Watt, earning a cool $27.3 million a year.
The numbers below are just the basic salaries of these players and doesn’t take into account bonuses, and of course endorsements, in other words, these players are making a serious buck.
- 10) Matthew Ryan (Atlanta Falcons) $30 million
- 9) Carson Wentz (Indianapolis Colts) $32 million
- 8) Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings) $33 million
- 7) Jared Goff (Detroit Lions) $33.5 million
- 6) Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) $33.5 million
- 5) Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) $35 million
- 4) Deshaun Watson (Houston Texans) $39 million
- 3) Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys) $40 million
- 2) Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills) $43 million
- 1) Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) $45 million
Interestingly if you transpose this list alongside the top ten NFL quarterbacks for the 2021 season thus far, based solely on passing yards, there are some obvious similarities.
Though the top three quarterbacks based on that metric don’t feature in this list at all, Tom Brady, Derek Carr, and Justin Herbert are the pass masters at this juncture.
In the case of Patrick Mahomes, he is still very much a player capable of getting his season back on track, and there’s a decent chance that the Super Bowl may well involve another Chiefs vs. Buccaneers match-up next February.
