The Highest-Paid Lacrosse Players, Ranked

No lacrosse player earns a salary remotely close to major-sport money, and as of 2026 the honest answer to “who’s the highest paid?” is still Paul Rabil — though almost none of his earnings came from a playing paycheque. League pay tops out around $42,000 (the NLL veteran maximum) and roughly $50,000 for the best-paid PLL field stars. The real top earners, named below, make their money off the field: endorsements, a second league contract, camps and media, and in Rabil’s case, owning a piece of the league itself.

The 10 highest-earning lacrosse players, at a glance

Rank	Player	League(s)	Why they’re here
1	Paul Rabil	PLL (retired, co-founder)	First to top $1M career earnings; PLL equity + New Balance, Red Bull deals
2	Tom Schreiber	PLL — Utah Archers	3x PLL MVP; top-of-band salary + endorsements/camps
3	Michael Sowers	PLL — Philadelphia Waterdogs	Extended through 2026; franchise centerpiece scorer
4	Jeff Teat	PLL — New York Atlas	2024 MVP; PLL single-season points record
5	Lyle Thompson	PLL — Cannons LC	No. 1 overall draft pick; global brand, own gear line
6	Miles Thompson	PLL — Chaos LC / NLL — Georgia Swarm	Shared 2014 Tewaaraton with Lyle; dual-league pay
7	Matt Rambo	PLL — Maryland Whipsnakes / NLL — Philadelphia Wings	First-ever PLL MVP (2019); dual-league pay
8	Blaze Riorden	PLL — Carolina Chaos / NLL	5x Oren Lyons Goalie of the Year; dual-league pay
9	Grant Ament	PLL — Utah Archers	Elite playmaker; top-of-band PLL salary
10	Dhane Smith	NLL — Buffalo Bandits / PLL — Chaos LC	NLL single-season scoring records; franchise tag

Notice the pattern before the write-ups: half this list plays two leagues in the same year, and the single biggest name on it never depended on a salary at all. Want the two salary systems explained side by side? Our breakdown of the PLL and NLL pro leagues covers exactly how each pays.

1. Paul Rabil

Paul Rabil is the reference point for every list like this. His playing salary was never large by pro-sports standards, but he built the biggest personal brand the sport has produced, signed endorsement deals with New Balance, Red Bull and others, and co-founded the Premier Lacrosse League with his brother Mike in 2018. Bleacher Report tagged him lacrosse’s first “million dollar man” for crossing seven figures in career earnings — mostly off the field. Owning equity in a professional league is a different category of money than any playing contract, which is why he still sits at the top of any serious earnings discussion, years after his last competitive faceoff.

2. Tom Schreiber

A three-time PLL MVP, Schreiber signed a contract extension keeping him with the Utah Archers through 2026. His base salary sits at the top of the PLL’s reported band, stacked on top of camps, clinics and endorsement income most role players never see. Widely regarded as the league’s best all-around midfielder-attackman hybrid, Schreiber is the clearest example of a player whose on-field production and off-field earning power move together.

3. Michael Sowers

The Philadelphia Waterdogs extended Sowers through 2026, locking in the player the league has called the “centerpiece” of one of its most explosive offenses alongside Kieran McArdle and Jack Hannah. A local product (Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania) with a national following for his vision and finishing, Sowers turns that hometown-hero profile into camp and clinic income well beyond his PLL paycheque — a rare case of commercial value still climbing while he’s in his athletic prime.

4. Jeff Teat

Teat won the PLL’s 2024 Jim Brown MVP award for the New York Atlas and broke the league’s single-season points record, then added a Championship MVP the following postseason. That combination gives him leverage most pros never get: brand deals and camp fees priced off being the league’s most productive scorer. He’s expected to miss the 2026 season following shoulder surgery, a reminder that even top earners here carry real injury risk with no guaranteed-contract safety net.

5. Lyle Thompson

Lyle Thompson went No. 1 overall to Cannons LC in the PLL Entry Draft and has spent his career as the sport’s most recognizable Native American star, a two-time Tewaaraton winner from the Onondaga Nation. His income leans harder on endorsements, sold-out clinics and the Thompson family’s own gear brand than on his PLL base pay, which is why he shows up on every serious earnings list despite league salaries being capped low across the board.

6. Miles Thompson

Lyle’s twin brother shared the 2014 Tewaaraton Trophy with him at the University at Albany — the first Native American players to win the award — and has built a parallel pro career across the NLL’s Georgia Swarm and the PLL’s Chaos LC. Playing both leagues in the same calendar year is exactly the pattern that produces above-average lacrosse income: two capped salaries stacked, plus the marketing value of the Thompson name and the family’s ties to the Haudenosaunee Nationals program.

7. Matt Rambo

Rambo won the PLL’s first-ever Jim Brown MVP award in the league’s inaugural 2019 season and helped the Maryland Whipsnakes to back-to-back championships. He’s stayed with the franchise through a 2026 extension while also playing for the Philadelphia Wings in the NLL — two capped salaries in the same year. A veteran attackman with a championship résumé, Rambo’s earnings come from that dual-league stack plus the camp and coaching work most tenured PLL attackmen pick up in the off-season.

8. Blaze Riorden

Riorden is a five-time Oren Lyons Goalie of the Year (2019-21, 2023, 2024), widely considered one of the best goalies the sport has produced and known for the rare “goalie goal” highlight that made him a viral name beyond lacrosse circles. He plays for Carolina Chaos in the PLL and has also suited up in the NLL, another dual-league stack. A goalie’s marketability is usually lower than a top scorer’s, but Riorden’s highlight-reel style and award count make him an exception.

9. Grant Ament

A three-time All-American at Penn State, Ament arrived in the PLL as one of the most hyped playmakers of his draft class and has spent his pro career with the Archers franchise (now Utah Archers). Injuries have interrupted his run more than his talent level would suggest, but when healthy he commands top-of-band PLL pay as a genuine assist-first offensive engine — the kind of skill set that keeps camp bookings full even in down seasons.

10. Dhane Smith

Smith holds the Buffalo Bandits’ and the NLL’s single-season records for goals (72), assists (101) and points (137), and has piled up over 1,500 career points — the resume of a player whose team wants him locked in at any cost. The Bandits placed the franchise tag on him, elevating his base contract to roughly $46,000, near the top of what any NLL player earns. He doubles up in the PLL with Chaos LC, which — combined with a scoring résumé that draws its own endorsement interest — makes him one of the very few players whose two league paychecks alone rival a top PLL star’s single salary.

What about college players?

Historically, a Division I lacrosse player earned exactly nothing beyond a scholarship, because NCAA athletes were amateurs. That has shifted with name, image and likeness rules: standout college players can now sign endorsement and camp deals and earn from their social platforms. There is still no salary from the school, and the sums are modest next to the revenue sports, but the best-known college lacrosse players are no longer earning zero.

How we ranked them

There’s no published, verified salary table for either league, so this isn’t a strict dollar-for-dollar ranking — it’s built from what’s actually documented: reported PLL/NLL salary bands, confirmed contract extensions and franchise tags, on-field accolades that translate into commercial value (MVPs, scoring records, Goalie of the Year honors), and, for the players who work both leagues, the fact that a second capped salary is real, additive income. Rabil sits alone at the top because league equity and endorsement history put him in a different bracket than any active salary can reach. Treat any specific net-worth figure you see elsewhere with suspicion — leagues don’t disclose pay, and most “net worth” numbers online are estimates. For players ranked on greatness rather than earnings, read our list of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, see how the women’s pro game is being built in our guide to women’s professional lacrosse, or browse more records and rankings in the Records & Rankings hub.