You Won’t Believe Who Just Claimed the Title of NFL’s Highest-Paid Player!
It pays to be a quarterback.
The NFL rewards players at its most prestigious position with fame, endorsements, and lots and lots of money.
It seems like a new quarterback contract with nine figures of guaranteed money is coming out each week. And, as the revenue for the league continues to increase, the numbers in these contracts are just going to keep getting higher, salary cap or no salary cap.
And while most of the top contracts in history have come at the quarterback position, some players at other positions have done well for themselves, too.
Below, we take a look at the top earners in NFL history. Money talks, and these guys have had a lot said to them over the years (most contract data via Spotrac).
Largest NFL Contracts
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (8 years, $504.75 Million)
Signing Year: 2026; AAV: $63,093,750; Signing Age: 30
Mahomes laps the field in these rankings, with the 2026 contract extension superseding the 10-year, $450M pact that he signed with the Chiefs prior to the 2020-21 season. It’s been the perfect confluence of events for Mahomes as he was the consensus best quarterback in the league at age 24 coming off a monster season that ended in a championship win.
The first NFL deal to be valued over half a billion dollars was an extension through 2033 and added $239.05 million to the 2020 extension, which earned Mahomes so much that he was able to become a minority stakeholder in another team in town â the Kansas City Royals.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (6 years, $330M)
Signing Year: 2025; AAV: $55,000,000; Signing Age: 28
After years of success, Allen’s new contract has the second highest average annual value of any player in league history.
The Bills were met with some derision after taking Allen with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but the team had the last laugh as he developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
T-3. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (5 years, $275M)
Signing Year: 2023; AAV: $55,000,000; Signing Age: 26
After helping turn the woeful franchise into a perennial contender in the AFC (including a Super Bowl appearance during the 2021 season), the Bengals rewarded the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by making him the highest-paid player in NFL history on a per-year basis.
The extension included $219.01 million in guaranteed money.
T-3. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (5 years, $275M)
Signing Year: 2024; AAV: $55,000,000; Signing Age: 24
Perhaps it’s fitting that Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, matched the record for highest average annual value in a contract that was held by the player who went No. 1 overall a year before him.
This extension included $200 million guaranteed and a $37.5 million signing bonus.
5. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (5 years, $265M)
Signing Year: 2025; AAV: $53,000,000; Signing Age: 25
What a journey. What a story. A former Mr. Irrelevant who was selected with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft became one of the richest signal-callers in league history when Purdy inked a deal worth $181 million guaranteed in May of 2025.
Before getting his big contract, Purdy had led San Francisco to a 27-15 record in his starts. That’s the sixth-best mark by a starting QB (including the playoffs) in the league since 2022. It includes a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2023 season.
6. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (5 years, $262.5M)
Signing Year: 2023; AAV: $52,500,000; Signing Age: 25
At the time of this deal, Herbert had become the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL by average salary. That is until the Bengals’ deal with Burrow surpassed that number just over a month later. Herbert will receive $218.7 million in guarantees in his new deal.
Herbert, 25, was a first-round pick (sixth overall) by the Chargers in 2020. He’s been a full-time starter ever since, throwing for 17,223 yards and 114 touchdowns with only 42 interceptions through his first four seasons.
7. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (5 years, $260M)
Signing Year: 2023; AAV: $52,000,000; Signing Age: 26
Jacksonâs free-agent deal is not worth as much as Mahomesâ in totality, but he became the highest-paid player per year (at the time) after re-signing with the team that drafted him 32nd overall back in 2018. Jackson was four years removed from his MVP-winning season in 2019 and he hadnât posted a 1,000-yard rushing season since 2020 at the time of the signing.
The Ravens, however, wouldnât let talks break down with their 26-year-old dual-threat franchise quarterback when there were clubs falling over themselves for the chance to even sit at the negotiating table with such a player.
8. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (5 years, $255M)
Signing Year: 2023; AAV: $51,000,000; Signing Age: 24
Hurts took the Eagles to the Super Bowl and cashed in during the following offseason.
His contract has the largest AAV ever, and he edged out the next player on the list for the biggest contract by a player not drafted in the first round.
9. Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos (5 years, $242.588M)
Signing Year: 2022; AAV: $48,517,647; Signing Age: 33
The Broncos had been searching for a quarterback since Peyton Manning retired and finally found their man in the Seattle Seahawks legend.
After spending a lot of capital to acquire him, it was only a matter of time before the team paid him his money, and he agreed to a new deal a week before the 2022-23 season began. He spent only two seasons with the Broncos.
10. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (4 years, $240M)
Signing Year: 2024; AAV: $60,000,000; Signing Age: 31
After an offseason of tension between the team and star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and Prescott, Dallas ended up signing both of them to big deals ahead of the 2024 season opener.
Prescott’s four-year, $240-million extension made him the highest-paid player in NFL history by average annual value ($60 million per year).
11. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (5 years, $230.5M)
Signing Year: 2024; AAV: $46,100,000; Signing Age: 24
There was a lot of debate about whether the Cardinals would commit to Kyler Murray, but the team ponied up to keep their franchise quarterback.
Murray clearly cared about his standing on the highest-paid players’ list, since he exceeded the contract of Deshaun Watson by a mere $500,000.
The Rest:
- 12. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns ($230M)
- 13. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers ($220M)
- 14. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins ($212.4M)
- 15. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions ($212M)
- 16. Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers ($186M)
- 17. Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions ($180M)
- 18. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons ($180M)
- 19. Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers ($170M)
- 20. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks ($168.6M)
Largest NFL Contracts for Non-QBs
1. Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers (4 years, $186M)
Signing Year: 2025 AAV: $46,500,000 Signing Age: 26
The Parsons saga had turned ugly in Dallas, so the Packers saw an opportunity and pounced. They sent two first-round picks and Kenny Clark to the Cowboys for Parsons, who also got an enormous extension upon his arrival in Green Bay.
The Packers made the star edge rusher the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history with a four-year, $188 million contract that pays him an average of $46.5 million a year.
2. Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions (4 years, $180M)
Signing Year: 2025 AAV: $45,000,000 Signing Age: 25
The Lions selected Hutchinson second overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, and he immediately turned into an elite defensive end.
After an injury caused him to miss most of 2024-25, Hutchinson got right back to dominating in 2025. Through seven games, he had 6.0 sacks and tied for the league lead with four forced fumbles. The Lions decided he had shown enough to give him a lucrative contract that fell just short of Parsons’ deal with their NFC North rival.
3. Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers (5 years, $170M)
Signing Year: 2023; AAV: $34,000,000; Signing Age: 25
Timing is everything, and Bosa picked a good year to get an extension.
Coming off a Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2022-23 in which he had 18.5 sacks, Bosa sat out all of training camp and the preseason in hopes of a new deal. His insistence on a new deal paid off as he immediately got the largest contract and highest AAV for a defensive player in NFL history.
4. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks (4 years, $168.6M)
Signing Year: 2026; AAV: $42,150,000; Signing Age: 24
Following their Super Bowl 60 win, the Seahawks extended the 2025 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, who had recorded an NFL-high 1,793 receiving yards as well as his second consecutive season with 100+ receptions, with the largest wide receiver deal in league history.
Over $120M of Smith-Njigba’s extension was reportedly guaranteed, also setting a receiver record.
5. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals (4 years, $161M)
Signing Year: 2025; AAV: $40,250,000; Signing Age: 25
At the 2025 scouting combine, Bengals GM Duke Tobin told reporters that Chase “was going to end up being the highest paid non-quarterback in the league.”
About a month later, Tobin made good on his word, signing the perennial pro-bowler to a contract that edged out Myles Garrett’s for the highest AAV in league history.
6. Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns (4 years, $160M)
Signing Year: 2025; AAV: $40,000,000; Signing Age: 29
Garrett was the first overall pick in the 2017 draft and hasn’t looked back since. The Browns were so thrilled with the start of the defensive end’s career that they quickly made him one of the highest paid defensive players and the face of their defense in 2020.
He continued to put up Hall of Fame caliber numbers, leading the Browns to reward Garrett again in 2025. They gave him $123 million guaranteed and the highest AAV, $40 million, for a non-QB in NFL history at the time he signed his deal.
7. Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs (5 years, $158.75M)
Signing Year: 2024; AAV: $31,750,000; Signing Age: 29
Despite all the talk about whether they’d be able to re-sign him, the Chiefs did find a way to lock up their star defensive lineman to the second-richest total contract for a non-QB in NFL history.
Jones reached double-digit sack totals in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his career in 2022 and 2023 with 15.5 and 10.5, respectively. And during the team’s playoff run to back-to-back titles in those years, Jones totaled 2.5 sacks, 12 quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and one forced fumble.
8. Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles (4 years, $152M)
Signing Year: 2026; AAV: $38,000,000; Signing Age: 25
A dominating force on the Eagles’ defensive line, including for their 2024 Super Bowl-championship team, Carter gained a rich deal that included at least $106.M guaranteed, with a handful of performance and weigh-in incentives added in.
He was runner-up for 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, then made the Pro Bowl in each of the two following seasons before he signed his new contract.
9. Will Anderson, Houston Texans (3 years, $150M)
Signing Year: 2026; AAV: $50,000,000; Signing Age: 24
On a per-year average, Anderson became the highest-paid non-QB in April 2026 ($50M AAV with $134M guaranteed). The defensive end, the 2023 No. 3 overall draft pick, was coming off an All-Pro season with 12 sacks. 20 tackles for loss and 23 QB hits.
He was the 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
T-10. Drake London, Atlanta Falcons (4 years, $141M)
Signing Year: 2026; AAV: $35,250,000; Signing Age: 24
With London ranking in the NFL top 20 in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches over his first four seasons (2022-25), the Falcons rewarded him with an extension that would follow the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. It included $100 million guaranteed, according to his agent Andrew Kessler.
A 100-catch receiver in 2024, London also received incentives that could push the deal to $150M.
T-10. Brian Burns, New York Giants (5 years, $141M)
Signing Year: 2024; AAV: $28,200,000; Signing Age: 25
The Burns saga finally ended when the edge was traded from the Carolina Panthers to the Giants in the 2024 offseason. New York then inked Burns to a one of the largest contract extensions of all time for a non-QB.
Burns addressed arguably the biggest need on the Giants roster after totaling 46 sacks over five seasons in Carolina. And his 54 tackles for loss since the 2020 season rank sixth in the NFL over that span.
T-10. Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers (6 years, $141M)
Signing Year: 2018; AAV: $23,500,000; Signing Age: 27
The Chicago Bears saw Mack as the difference maker for their team in 2018. They spent a lot of draft capital to get him, sending two first-rounders, a third-rounder and a sixth-rounder to the then-Oakland Raiders for Mack, a second-rounder and a conditional fifth-rounder.
The Bears invested a lot of real capital in Mack, too, giving him the largest deal for a defensive player and non-QB in league history at that time. And while Mack was the force on defense, the Bears hoped for a couple of years, the offense was never good enough to compliment his unit, and the Bears traded Mack to the Chargers prior to the 2022-23 season.
T-13. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (4 years, $140M)
Signing Year: 2024; AAV: $35,000,000; Signing Age: 25
Jefferson was limited by injury to 10 games in 2023, but that didnât prevent him from surpassing 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth straight season to open his Vikingsâ career.
The following offseason, they reached a contract extension that included $110 million guaranteed and made him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. The deal also included $88.743M at signing, the highest non-QB guarantee at signing in NFL history.
T-13. Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens (4 years, $140M)
Signing Year: 2026; AAV: $28,000,000; Signing Age: 25
The Ravens hadn’t been spending on wide receivers for several years, but it all changed with Flowers, who was guaranteed $108M by the franchise’s largest contract at the position. Their 2023 first-round pick had at least 74 receptions, 858 receiving yards and four TD catches in each of his first three seasons (237/3,128/14 overall in that time).
T-13. Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders (5 years, $140M)
Signing Year: 2022; AAV: $28,000,000; Signing Age: 29
The Raiders didnât view the Mack trade as a cautionary tale of giving up assets to sign a non-quarterback to a lucrative deal, as the team sent first- and second-round picks to the Green Bay Packers for Aaron Rodgers’ top wide receiver and signed him to a deal that pays $28 million per year.
16. Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers (6 years, $138.060M)
Signing Year: 2021; AAV: $35,010,000; Signing Age: 32
Left tackle is a premium position, and Williams is an elite player. It makes sense that the 49ers were willing to give him the most money ever for an offensive lineman, even if he did sign it at the age of 32.
17. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys (4 years, $136M)
Signing Year: 2024; AAV: $34,000,000; Signing Age: 25
Though there were some contentious moments as Lamb sat out training camp and three preseason games, the Cowboys and the star wideout ultimately agreed on a deal that made him the second-highest paid non-QB in terms of average annual value.
Lamb also became the highest-paid wide receiver in Cowboys’ history.
More to Know:
- T18. Christian Gonzalez, Patriots (4 years, $135M)
- T18. Joey Bosa, Los Angeles Chargers (5 years, $135M)
- 20. Devon Witherspoon, Seattle Seahawks (4 years, $132M)
- 21. Garrett Wilson, New York Jets (4 years, $130M)
- T22. Trent McDuffie, Los Angeles Rams (4 years, $124M)
- T22. Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints (4 years, $124M)
- 24. T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers (3 years, $123M)
- 25. Sauce Gardner, New York Jets (4 years, $120.4M)
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