The highest paid quarterbacks of all time

Before the explosion of professional leagues, athletes were not paid as much as they are today. This was true of all sports, although each has its own founding story. In fact, the first soccer player to get paid to play only earned $500. In just 50 years, the change between what a player makes and what the average national income is has exploded. In 1960, star players earned around $50,000 a year, which was about 7.5 times what the average family brings in, while now it’s closer to $50 million, or 666 times the amount the average American family sees. Wage growth far outpaces the rate of inflation with an increase of almost 8 times.

How it started

The first paid footballer earned $500 a year.

It’s difficult to find an accurate record of the number of players in the NFL before the 1990s, but salaries have been pretty well tracked since then. But when players first received a salary in 1892, Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Famer William Heffelfinger is believed to have joined the Allegheny Athletic Association for just $500. This was at a time when the average worker earned less than $0.014 an hour, and a $500 wage still put them close to the poverty line.

In 1915, Jim Thorpe played with the Canton Bulldogs for $250 a game. Five years later, he was president of the newly formed National Football League.

Growing salaries and valuable positions

Many early professional football players excelled in many sports.

Over the next hundred years or so, wages continued to rise at a much greater rate. One of the highest paid positions in the game is quarterback. In 1965, Joe Namath entered as a rookie and signed a four-year, $427,000 contract that amounted to $56,000 per year with the New York Jets. Teams also paid sign-on bonuses, which are often not included in annual salaries.

As new leagues formed and created competition and groups merged together, salaries became more and more competitive until it seemed like every year brought a new record number.

Why Quarterback?

The QB is often the highest paid member of the team.

So why are defender salaries so high? What makes them so important to a professional football team that management is willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to keep them? As teams negotiate salary caps and fill out their rosters, quarterbacks have risen to the top of the list.

The QB often plays a leadership role on the team and is expected to create a team mentality. They lead the attack, control the ball often and are asked to make crucial decisions in seconds. They’re also more likely to get hurt because the entire job of the opposing team’s defense is to stop them. So with names like Lamar Jackson, Pat Mahomes and Dak Prescott ringing in our ears, we’re going to discuss which QBs actually make the most money.

10. Kyler Murray

Kyler Murray was drafted in 2019.

• Team: Arizona Cardinals
• Salary: 46.1 million dollars

9. Jalen hurts

Jalen Hurts played for college football dynasties Oklahoma and Alabama before joining the NFL in 2020.

• Team: Philadelphia Eagles
• Salary: 51 million dollars

8. Lamar Jackson

Jackson has been a successful quarterback for the Ravens since 2018.

• Team: Baltimore Ravens
• Salary: 52 million dollars

7. Justin Herbert

After playing for the Oregon Ducks, Herbert was drafted in 2020 by the Chargers.

• Team: Los Angeles Chargers
• Salary: 52.5 million dollars

6. Patrick Mahomes

Mahomes hopes to lead the KC Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl win this year.

• Team: Kansas City Chiefs
• Salary: 52.65 million dollars

5. Jared Goff

Goff was drafted by the Rams before landing as the starting QB for the Detroit Lions.

• Team: Detroit Lions
• Salary: 53 million dollars

4. Tua Tagovailoa

Another Alabama alum, Tagovailoa joined the Dolphins in 2020.

• Team: Miami Dolphins
• Salary: 53.1 million dollars

3. Trevor Lawrence

Lawrence was drafted by the Jaguars in 2021.

• Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
• Salary: 55 million dollars

2. Joe Burrow

The Bengals drafted Burrow in 2020 right after his championship game with LSU.

• Team: Cincinnati Bengals
• Salary: 55 million dollars

1. Dak Prescott

The QB on our list with the most experience, Prescott was drafted in 2016.

• Team: Dallas Cowboys
• Salary: 65 million dollars

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