Getty Images
Wasn’t that long ago Maxx Crosby reset the market for players who aren’t quarterbacks. Since Crosby signed an extension earlier this month that put him at a $35.5 million average annual salary, two players have since surpassed that mark over the next two weeks.
Of course, both of those record-setting extensions fell on a Sunday. Myles Garrett previously owned that title as the Cleveland Browns gave him a $40 million extension with a historic $122.8 million guaranteed. Just a week later, Ja’Marr Chase reset the market as the Cincinnati Bengals gave him a four-year, $161 million deal that pays him an average of $40.25 million a season.
With Chase joining Garrett in the $40 million non-quarterback club, Chase’s deal will certainly impact other non-quarterbacks whose agents are popping bottles while negotiating extensions for their superstar clients. Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson and Trey Hendrickson are awaiting new contracts and stand to benefit the most from Garrett and Chase’s new deals.
This list will certainly change over the course of the offseason, but here are the 10 highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL at this very moment.
Highest-paid non-quarterbacks in average annual salary
PlayerTeamPositionAverage Annual SalaryJa’Marr ChaseCincinnati BengalsWR$40,250,000Myles GarrettCleveland BrownsDE$40,000,000 Maxx Crosby
DE$35,500,000
WR$35,000,000
WR$34,000,000
DE$34,000,000
WR$32,000,000
Chris JonesKansas City ChiefsDT$31,750,000Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR$30,002,500
DK MetcalfPittsburgh SteelersWR$30,000,000Tyreek Hill
WR$30,000,000
San Francisco 49ers
WR$30,000,000
Wide receivers still dominate the highest-paid non-quarterbacks list based on average per year salary, as eight of them are in the top-12 with Hill, Metcalf and Aiyuk tied for 10th. Pass rushers take up three positions on the list with Garrett, Crosby and Bosa as the three edge rushers who make $30+ million a year. Jones is the outlier as an interior defensive lineman, the only one to make $30+ million a year.
Now, let’s take a look at the highest-paid, non-QBs in terms of guaranteed salary, a list that many would argue is even more important than a contract’s average per year salary because APY can sometimes be artificially inflated by backloading a deal with money teams intended to never actually pay out. All the money below is cash each respective player will see.
Highest-paid non-quarterbacks in guaranteed salary
PlayerTeamPositionGuaranteed SalaryMyles GarrettCleveland BrownsDE$122,796,120Nick BosaSan Francisco 49ersDE$122,500,000Ja’Marr ChaseCincinnati BengalsWR$112,000,000Justin JeffersonMinnesota VikingsWR$110,000,000CeeDee LambDallas CowboysWR$100,000,000Chris JonesKansas City ChiefsDT$95,000,000Maxx Crosby
Las Vegas Raiders
DE$91,500,000
Tristan WirfsTampa Bay BuccaneersOT$88,240,000Joshua Hines-AllenJacksonville JaguarsDE$88,000,000Brian BurnsNew York GiantsDE$87,500,000
Chase became the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history in guaranteed money, getting $112 million from the Bengals in his massive extension. He broke Jefferson’s mark set last offseason, but remains in third among non-quarterbacks behind Garrett and Bosa.
Players who line up in the trenches along the line of scrimmage dominate the guaranteed money top 10 list for non-QBs. Six pass rushers, five of whom are edge rushers (Garrett, Bosa, Crosby, Hines-Allen and Burns) and one interior defensive lineman (Jones), lead the way.
These two charts hammer home why Garrett’s deal set sthe barometer for Watt, Parsons, Hendrickson, and other pass rushers seeking extensions. All these contracts were signed over the last two years, with Bosa setting the standard with his five-year, $170 million extension with $122.5 million guaranteed in 2023. These numbers will certainly go up with the rising salary cap and the ballooning wide receiver market.
Garrett’s extension is the dynamite that ushers in a wave of record-setting spending this offseason, with Chase surpassing his average annual salary just a week later.
