The Highest-Paid NFL Players Make An Astounding Amount Of Money

Understanding compensation for professional athletes can be complicated. From contract lengths to bonuses to differences between leagues, players can rack up astonishingly high earnings before even entertaining endorsement deals. And perhaps nowhere is athlete-pay more convoluted than it is in the National Football League. Since 2023, the highest-paid quarterback record has reset a whopping four times. While quarterbacks tend to leverage more pay, increasingly, pay across the NFL has reached new heights. For instance, the record for most guaranteed money given to a non-quarterback position was shattered this past June when Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson agreed to a four-year $140 million contract extension, with an included $110 million guaranteed.

For starters, it's important to realize the NFL has some set salary rules that affect how a player is paid, and how much they're paid. The NFL has what's known as a hard salary cap, meaning teams have enforced limits on how much they can spend on their players' salaries. Not to get too far into the nitty-gritty but these caps can be per-player or a total limit depending on the team. The salary cap for the upcoming 2024-25 season is set at $255.4 million per team (which is an increase of about $30 million per team compared to the previous season). While the average NFL salary sits around $2.8 million, the median is $860,000. With a minimum roster of 53 players, teams spend an astounding amount of money on their players to play America's most popular sport. (By the way, here's how much TV networks pay to broadcast NFL games.)

The NFL Players Association helps to negotiate what's known as a collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, with the league. These agreements lay out everything from pay increases to bonuses to how much money players make if they win the Super Bowl. The current CBA was signed in 2020 and it isn't due to expire until 2031. In the current CBA, players enjoy steadily increasing pay, along with bonuses and incentives, every season. These incentives can range from making it to playoff games to individual player stats (e.g., total rushing yards, touchdowns, punt returns, etc.), and serve as a way for players to earn even more than their base salary.

With that in mind, certain players receive additional bonuses for things like attending off-season workouts. Technically every NFL player gets paid $1,000 for every week they choose to participate in their team's offseason training program, yet, more valuable veteran players often have workout bonuses as part of their player contracts. For instance, both Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray earn $1 million in workout bonuses.

It's also important to realize that different players might rank first on different top-paid player lists depending on the category. For instance, for contract length, Mahomes ranks first due to his 10-year agreement (Mahomes also ranks first for contract value with a whopping $450 million). However, for base salary, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson ranks first with $46 million. Watson also ranks first for the total guaranteed amount ($230 million) and the total guaranteed at signing ($23 million). (On that note, this is how much the highest-paid players in the NBA earn.)

Outside of their NFL pay, bonuses, and incentives, many NFL players also sign sponsorship and endorsement deals with brands and companies. These deals can be incredibly lucrative, and can also serve to boost a player's profile with the general public. Factoring this sponsorship money into the earnings equation can also change who is considered the top-paid NFL player. Topping the current list for endorsement money with $25 million across ~20 brands is two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes, who has deals with brands like Adidas, State Farm, Hugo Boss, T-Mobile, and Walmart. Another notable endorsement earner is Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who earns $14 million across 15 sponsors, including Nike's Jordan Brand, Bud Light, and AT&T.

Also note, while some NFL players may be marketable enough to negotiate special endorsement deals for just their image, many brands go for deals with multiple players simultaneously. According to Statista, in 2023, Nike was the leading endorsement brand with 36 separate player contracts. EA's "Madden" game series was second with 31 player contracts, followed closely by Verizon with 30 player contracts. Plus, while you might think a player would need to already be a household NFL name in order to secure contracts, you might be surprised to learn that some endorsement deals are being signed even before the NFL draft (though these are typically by high-profile college players with NIL deals). For example, before he was even officially drafted for the Arizona Cardinals, Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. signed a multiyear New Balance endorsement contract.