Who Are the Highest Paid Players in the NFL This Season?

In February, the NFL announced that each team’s salary cap, the amount that each team can spend on players, was going to increase, and the jump was a sizable one.

Because of the massive amount that TV networks and streaming services pay for the right to air NFL games, along with the full repayment of all the money advanced by teams and deferred by players during the COVID-19 pandemic, the salary cap increased by $30 million per team, an unprecedented amount.

That figure represents $960 million more across the league.

Each year, the NFL sets a salary cap, and while incremental increases are normal (the NFL has never been more valuable than it is right now), this $30 million increase meant that every team had $255.4 million to spend on players.

This figure does not only represent the 53-man roster that teams have for gameday, but also includes practice squad players, players on injured reserve, and any other player on the roster.

With this in mind, which players are the highest paid going into the new NFL season? Find out more about the highest paid players and how these contracts are reshaping the game of football today.

Jordan Love

Green Bay Packers Quarterback
$55 Million

It looks like the Green Bay Packers may have struck gold in the quarterback market again, as Jordan Love’s last 10 games in his first season as the starter in Green Bay were astounding.

Surrounded by the youngest offense in the league last year, Love led the Packers to a postseason berth after getting off to a rocky start.

Since Love was drafted in 2020, his contract was set to expire soon, and the Packers made the decision to make him one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league heading into 2024.

Trevor Lawrence

Jacksonville Jaguars Quarterback
$55 Million

The Trevor Lawrence deal in Jacksonville came just days before Jordan Love’s new contract with the Packers and is ultimately for the same amount, at least on an annual basis.

Lawrence was the most coveted player in the draft since the Colts took Andrew Luck first overall and has already led the Jaguars to the playoffs after a tough rookie season.

For a team that has struggled to find a franchise QB for the better part of its existence, having Lawrence in place is a huge win for the Jags.

Joe Burrow

Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback
$55 Million

$55 million seems to be the ceiling when it comes to the NFL’s highest paid quarterbacks, at least for now.

Joe Burrow was a breath of fresh air for a Bengals team that had struggled to maintain any semblance of relevance for years. Not only has Burrow led the Bengals to multiple division titles, but he has also led them to a Super Bowl in 2022.

Injuries have been a bit of a concern for Burrow, but that didn’t stop the Bengals from locking him in when they had the chance. Burrow is undeniably one of the top five quarterbacks in the league, and many people have him in the top three.

Tua Tagovailoa

Miami Dolphins Quarterback
$53.1 Million

If anyone had a rookie season that they’d like to forget, it’s Tua Tagovailoa.

After former coach Brian Flores was fired, multiple reports came out indicating that he was vocal about not wanting the Dolphins to draft Tua, who put up some subpar numbers in his first season.

Things turned around when Flores was replaced by Mike McDaniels, the former QB coach of the San Francisco 49ers. In addition to getting Tyreek Hill on the roster, the Dolphins have built the team around Tua and paid him as such.

Jared Goff

Detroit Lions Quarterback
$53 Million

It’s hard to believe that people were wondering if Jared Goff was going to have a future in the NFL after things seemed to go downhill quickly with the Los Angeles Rams.

After being traded to the Lions, one of the more historically underperforming teams in the league, Jared Goff not only offered the city of Detroit hope, but also cemented his position as one of the highest-paid players in the league.

He led the Lions to their first playoff win since 1991 last season and has the team atop many lists of NFC favorites going into the 2024 NFL season.

Justin Herbert

Los Angeles Chargers Quarterback
$52.5 Million

Justin Herbert is an interesting study. He’s widely renowned as one of the most physically gifted QBs in the league, but he’s struggled to lead his team to postseason success. This makes him the third Chargers QB over the last couple of decades to do that, following Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers.

This year, Herbert has a new head coach in Jim Harbaugh, but the team traded most of the offensive skill players around him. The Chargers are invested in Herbert and are hopeful that the change in coaching staff can help him turn the corner.

Lamar Jackson

Baltimore Ravens Quarterback
$52 Million

In a sense, it’s strange to see a two-time league MVP so far down on the list of highest paid players, but Lamar Jackson got his deal done years ago, and the market has shifted.

It’s certainly safe to assume that his next contract with the Ravens will be worth more than his current deal, but for now, he finds himself behind players who haven’t won any individual awards.

Is 2024 the season that Jackson leads Baltimore back to the Super Bowl in what would be his first appearance? They’re certainly in a position to do so, and Lamar Jackson is a big reason why.

Jalen Hurts

Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback
$51 Million

The Philadelphia Eagles believe in Jalen Hurts, and they rewarded him with a massive contract just a couple of years ago. He’s led the team to a Super Bowl and consistently puts up numbers good enough to lead a team to a championship.

Before the 2022 NFL Draft, the Eagles traded for AJ Brown and Hurts finally had a legitimate number-one receiver. In a time when QB contracts are going up every year, $51 million for Hurts currently seems like a teal.

Kyler Murray

Arizona Cardinals Quarterback
$46.1 Million

This may be one of the most controversial contracts on our list, largely because of the rumors surrounding Murray’s work ethic.

Shortly after he signed a deal that pays him north of $46 million per season, reports came out that the Cardinals put a provision in the contract requiring Murray to study game film for a certain number of hours each week.

The team disputed the claim, but then Murray’s camp got angry that it leaked, which means it was most likely true.

It’s been reported that the team removed the requirement from the contract, but paying a player more than $46 million when you have to put film-study requirements in the deal is a bold move for a team that has never won a Super Bowl.

Deshaun Watson

Cleveland Browns Quarterback
$46 Million

Deshaun Watson left the Houston Texans, the team that drafted him out of Clemson, under a cloud of controversy. That didn’t stop the Browns from reshaping the QB market by offering Watson a fully-guaranteed contract, the first of its kind in the history of the sport.

Unfortunately for the Browns, Watson’s injury issues have kept him from playing most of the time he’s been in Cleveland, and when he has played, those injuries have hampered him.

Will 2024 be the season that the Browns get their money’s worth out of Watson? It’s possible.

For a team that has been questionable under center since rejoining the league and taking Tim Couch as their first overall draft pick, the Browns need Watson to be worth what now looks like an affordable QB contract.

Quarterback Center

In a time when the QB position is arguably more important than it’s ever been, it’s not a surprise that the top 10 highest paid players in the NFL are quarterbacks.

Will any of these players fail to meet expectations? Only time will tell.