The NFL pay charts are making headlines again as the league has achieved record-deals contracts, but the thing is that none of better paid players has something that you think they shouls have: Super Bowl trophies.
The league's top ten players collectively earn around $533.6 million a year, yet none of them have been able to lift football's biggest prize, according to 'The SportsRush'.
Who is top of the list?
Leading the ranking is the Dallas Cowboys captain, Dak Prescott, with a tremendous $60 million per year. Following we find Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, and Trevor Lawrence, all of whom receive $55 million per year.
Coming next is Tua Tagovailoa at $53.1 million followed by Jared Goff and Brock Purdy who both receive $53 million. The last steps include Justin Herbert ($52.5 million) and Lamar Jackson ($52 million), according again, to 'The SportsRush'.
While Burrow, Goff, and Purdy have made it to the Super Bowl level, all three departed empty-handed. For the others, even getting there remains a deam.
The Mahomes' critical factor
Surprising enough, Patrick Mahomes does not belong on this list of high paid players. His 10-year, $450 million contract was previously in the spotlight and making headlines as the richest contract in sports, but its average annual value of $45 million keeps him short of the day's new market rates. Poor him.
However, Mahomes possesses one thing that the rest do not: three Super Bowls championships. By having his contract restructured and by preserving cap space for Kansas City, he has helped to create a dynasty where the big payments come after achieving success with the team. That is exactly how it should be.
What the numbers show
This enormous salary pool with no championships shows two key things to understand about the current NFL:
- Money does not win championships: With or without great quarterback play, it takes depth on the roster, coaching, health, and timing to bring home a title.
- The NFL market follows inflation: Quarterbacks are the most prized assets in the league, and front offices are paying more than ever to achieve long-term stability even if playoff bliss has not yet occured.
Behind these unbelievable numbers, there are players experiencing extreme pressure. Everytime their team fails to reach the final or even the playoffs, the question becomes larger: "Where's the importance of the Super Bowl?" We know that, to players, their paycheck is life-altering, but the chase of the championship is the ultimate validation of excellence in the NFL.
The NFL's richest celebrities may be altering the salary game, but until they can create a Lombardi Trophy, their checkbooks will continue to overshadow their legacies. At the moment, Patrick Mahomes is the exception and proof that sometimes, doing less does indeed equal winning more.
