The NFL’s Five Highest-Paid Players 2024

Forbes

After a record-breaking offseason for contracts, the Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff leads a group of 10 gridiron stars collectively hauling in an estimated $644 million this year.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2024/09/05/the-nfls-highest-paid-players-2024/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Over the last six months, NFL teams doled out more than $12 billion in new contracts,

00:06demolishing the record for an offseason.

00:09And with all of that cash being tossed around, it's harder than ever to crack the list

00:13of the NFL's highest-paid players.

00:15For the second time in the last three years, football's five top earners are all quarterbacks.

00:21But the numbers are at a new level.

00:23All five are set to make at least $66 million during the 2024 league year, counting both

00:29their playing contracts and their endorsements and other business endeavors.

00:34That cutoff represents a nearly $20 million jump from last year, and the top five combined

00:39are poised to haul in $383 million before taxes and agents' fees.

00:45Here are the five highest-paid NFL players for 2024.

00:50Number 5.

00:51Justin Herbert Herbert signed a five-year, $262.5 million

00:57extension in 2023, which came with a $50.6 million option bonus paid this offseason.

01:04He also has another $45 million in bonus money due for 2025.

01:09The Young Chargers star threw his 1,500th completion in his 57th career game in November,

01:15becoming the fastest player in NFL history to reach the milestone.

01:19Herbert is also a burgeoning star off the field, appearing in commercials for SoFi,

01:24CCL, and Dr. Squatch Soap.

01:27Number 4.

01:28Joe Burrow Like Herbert, Burrow inked a massive contract

01:32extension in 2023 that paid out a hefty option bonus during the 2024 offseason.

01:38In his case, a five-year, $275 million extension with a $55 million bonus.

01:45A wrist injury cut short his 2023 season, but Burrow recently told Sports Illustrated

01:50that he used the time off to add muscle mass.

01:53Off the field, the quarterback walked in the Vogue World 2024 fashion show and switched

01:57one high-profile sponsorship from Nike to Alo Yoga, helping unveil the company's first

02:02running sneaker in August.

02:05Number 3.

02:06Jordan Love A first-round draft pick in 2020, Love served

02:11as the backup to Aaron Rodgers for three seasons before breaking out in 2023, throwing for

02:164,159 yards and 32 touchdowns as the Packers' starting quarterback.

02:23Expectations are much higher for his follow-up campaign.

02:25A poll of NFL coaches and executives by The Athletic had Love 14th among quarterbacks,

02:30up 13 spots from 2023.

02:33It's risky to hand a four-year, $220 million contract to a player with 18 career starts

02:39as the Packers did in July.

02:40But remember, Rodgers had made just seven starts when the Packers gave him a five-year

02:45extension in 2008.

02:48Number 2.

02:49Patrick Mahomes Mahomes still has the largest contract in

02:53NFL history, as measured by total value, with the 10-year, $450 million deal he signed in

03:002020.

03:01On an annual basis, however, he's been passed by.

03:04Ten quarterbacks now have higher per-year averages.

03:07As Mahomes waits for the Chiefs to give him an inevitable raise, he can certainly afford

03:11to be patient, given that he has the best portfolio of traditional endorsements in football.

03:17Mahomes also launched Throne Sport Coffee in May as the company's second-largest shareholder,

03:22and he was a producer on the Netflix docuseries Receiver.

03:27Number 1.

03:28Jared Goff After guiding the Lions to their first playoff

03:31appearance in seven years, Goff earned himself a four-year, $212 million extension in May,

03:37with $170 million in practical guarantees, plus a no-trade clause.

03:43His $73 million signing bonus stood as an NFL record for two months, until Jordan Love

03:48eclipsed him with $75 million from the Packers.

03:52Goff supplements his income with endorsements from brands including Ford, Old Spice, and

03:57appropriately, Jared Jewelers.

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