An updated list of the 10 highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL ahead of the 2023 season.
The 2023 NFL offseason has been nothing if not eventful. Two of the biggest contracts in NFL history were handed out to quarterbacks, and they won’t be the last. The market is shifting and growing in ways we’ve never seen before.
Of course, quarterback is the most valuable single position in the sport. Football is the ultimate team sport — no single player can win games — but it all falls apart if your QB can’t hit the side of a barn.
The face of the league has always been stationed at the quarterback position. From Joe Montana, to Peyton Manning, to Tom Brady, all the way up to Patrick Mahomes in the current day, the NFL’s marketing apparatus is perpetually geared around the playmaking talent and raw star power of the league’s best pigskin-slingers.
The list of highest paid quarterbacks features some of today’s signature athletes — as well as a few notable front office fumbles.
10 highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL (Updated 2023)
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens ($52 million)
- Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles ($51 million)
- Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets ($50.3 million)
- Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos ($48.5 million)
- Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals ($46.1 million)
- Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns ($46 million)
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs ($45 million)
- Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills ($43 million)
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams ($40 million)
- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys ($40 million)
Lamar Jackson took over the top spot this summer with his monster five-year, $260 million extension. He became the highest-paid player in the NFL, taking over Jalen Hurts’ spot after the Eagles’ star signed his mega-extension only a week and a half prior.
The Jets traded for Aaron Rodgers and incurred the league’s third-biggest contract in the process — a reasonable gamble when one considers Rodgers’ stature and the Jets’ desperation to do something, anything.
Then we arrive at “yikes!!!” territory with the 4-6 run of Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, and Deshaun Watson.
The Broncos’ decision to extend Wilson made sense at the time, but he looked completely washed last season. Denver will hope Sean Payton has the fountain of youth at his disposal on top of his talent for play-calling.
Kyler Murray struggled mightily in his fourth NFL season. The Cardinals went 3-8 when the QB started and he posted the worst QB rating of his career.
Cleveland was supposed to take the next step with Deshaun Watson after the QB emerged from his months-long suspension tied to severe allegations of sexual assault. It didn’t happen that way: Watson’s 58.2 completion percentage and 79.1 QB rating were career lows by a lot.
Patrick Mahomes is basically on a discount at this point and he’s willing to be flexible to help Kansas City maintain its Super Bowl roster. Josh Allen is quickly approaching discount territory as well.
Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott round out the list, with New York’s Daniel Jones also tied at $40 million in annual average value for 2023.
The next player expected to join the top-10 club? Joe Burrow, who is still negotiating a deal that could vault him all the way to No. 1.
