Who are the highest paid NFL players? Football is one of the hardest hitting sports in the world and for the best players, it can be one of the highest paying. Compared to other sports, football is actually one of the toughest leagues in terms of making money. Unlike the NBA and MLB, there are no guaranteed contracts in the NFL. Meaning if you sign a $10 million contract and have a career ending injuring on opening day, you get nothing. In the NBA and MLB, if you get injured on opening day, you still get paid the full contract amount even if you never play another day! The average career length in football is also much shorter at just 3.3 years. But for those select few highest paid NFL players, football can be extremely lucrative. So who are the highest paid NFL players? Is veteran Peyton Manning still the reigning money champion? We've compiled a list of the 25 highest paid NFL players in terms of salary and bonuses. The amounts below do not take into account the millions of dollars these players earn off the field through endorsements. When you look just at salary, we bet you'll be surprised by the top five players…
Highest Paid NFL Players / Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Highest Paid NFL Players:
- #1: Dwight Freeney Salary ― $19,035,000 (base salary $14.035 million, roster/signing bonus $5 million)
- #2: Elvis Dumervil Salary ― $18,948,000 (base salary $14 million, roster bonus $4.525 million)
- #3: Peyton Manning Salary ― $18,000,000
- #4: Chris Long Salary ― $16,360,000 (base salary $10.3 million, signing bonus $6.05 million)
- #5: Sam Bradford Salary― $15,595,000 (base salary $6 million, $9.5 million roster/signing bonus)
- #6: Philip Rivers Salary ― $15,310,000 (base salary $10.2 million, $5.1 million roster/signing bonus)
- #7: Jared Allen Salary ― $15,203,194
- #8: Trent Williams Salary ― $14,000,000
- #9: Michael Vick Salary ― $13,900,000
- #10: Larry Fitzgerald Salary― $13,250,000 (base salary $5 million, $8.2 million roster/signing bonus)
- #11: Tamba Hali Salary ― $13,093,750 (base salary $11.25 million, roster/signing bonus $4.1 million)
- #12: Vincent Jackson Salary ― $13,000,000 (base salary $11 million, roster bonus $2 million)
- #13: Matt Ryan Salary ― $12,990,000 (base salary $11.5 million, signing bonus $1.49 million)
- #14: Joe Thomas Salary ― $12,960,000
- #15: Jake Long Salary ― $12,800,000
- #16: Carl Nicks Salary ― $12,500,000 (base salary $6.5 million, roster bonus $6 million)
- #17: Julius Peppers Salary ― $12,400,000
- #18: David Harris Salary ― $12,000,000
- #19: Eli Manning Salary ― $11,850,000 (base salary $1.75 million, roster/signing bonus $10.1 million)
- #20: Matt Schaub Salary ― $11,700,000 (base salary $4.4 million, roster/signing bonus $7.3 million)
- #21: Charles Woodson Salary ― $11,562,500 (base salary $6.5 million, roster bonus $5 million)
- #22: Calvin Johnson Salary ― $11,531,946 (base salary $8.5 million, roster/signing bonus $3 million)
- #23: Jordan Gross Salary ― $11,500,000
- #24: Champ Bailey Salary ― $11,500,000
- #25: Adrian Peterson Salary ― $11,150,000
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