Highest-Paid NFL Players: The Full 2026 Rankings by AAV

Ranked strictly by average annual value (AAV) — total contract divided by its length — because NFL deals are rarely paid out as signed. Guaranteed money and total value are noted for each player but used only to break context, not to set the order.

1. 1

   AAV record-holder

   Patrick Mahomes

   Kansas City's June 2026 rework turned Mahomes' 2020 contract into an eight-year deal through 2033 worth $504.75 million — the first NFL contract ever to top $500 million. Its $64 million new-money average is the highest AAV in league history, a $19 million-a-year jump that pushed him past Dak Prescott's $60 million.

   He ranks first on the number that orders this list, not on guarantees: reports put the fully guaranteed portion near $150.25 million, below what Josh Allen locked in at signing. Two Super Bowl MVPs and three rings before age 30 gave Kansas City the reason to commit into his late 30s. See our NFL MVP winners list for his award context.

   Team: Chiefs · Deal: 8yr / $504.75M · Fully guaranteed: ~$150.25M · Record: first $500M+ contract

2. 2

   Prior record

   Dak Prescott

   Prescott's four-year, $240 million Cowboys extension, signed in 2024, carries roughly $231 million guaranteed and held the AAV record for two full seasons before Mahomes passed it in June 2026. It is still the second-largest average salary in league history.

   Dallas ranks him here on structure as much as size: the deal is short and guarantee-heavy rather than long-term, a front office betting on near-term production instead of the decade-long commitment Kansas City made. That is why his $60 million total-per-year sits above the $55 million cluster despite a shorter term.

   Team: Cowboys · Deal: 4yr / $240M · Guaranteed: ~$231M · Held AAV record: 2024–2026

3. T-3

   Championship-window bet

   Joe Burrow

   Burrow's five-year, $275 million Bengals extension sits in a four-way tie at $55 million, a sign of how tightly the market has bunched below Prescott. Cincinnati structured it to keep its title-window core — including receiver Ja'Marr Chase — together rather than to chase the top of the AAV chart.

   He is grouped ahead of the $53 million tier on raw average alone; among the four tied names, the separation comes down to guarantee structure rather than yearly pay. Burrow's case rests on production, having led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance on his rookie deal before the extension.

   Team: Bengals · Deal: 5yr / $275M · AAV: $55M · Context: signed to keep title-window core

4. T-3

   Largest guarantee at signing

   Josh Allen

   Allen leads the $55 million tie in the category that outlasts AAV: his six-year, $330 million Bills deal carries $250 million guaranteed at signing, an NFL record for a negotiated guarantee. Only Deshaun Watson's fully guaranteed $230 million contract tops it in secured dollars.

   That guarantee is why Allen's deal is arguably safer than the higher-AAV contracts above it — he is promised more cash up front than Mahomes locked in. Ranked purely by the yearly average this list uses, though, he shares the third rung rather than owning it outright.

   Team: Bills · Deal: 6yr / $330M · Guaranteed at signing: $250M (record) · AAV: $55M

5. T-3

   One-season market reset

   Jordan Love

   Love's four-year Packers extension reset Green Bay's quarterback market off a single strong season after he took over from Aaron Rodgers, landing him in the $55 million tie. It is the most aggressive projection bet among the four tied names — the least career evidence behind the biggest number.

   He ranks alongside Burrow, Allen and Lawrence on AAV despite the thinnest résumé because the quarterback market prices the position, not the track record: a starting-caliber passer coming off a breakout year resets the going rate whether or not the sample is large.

   Team: Packers · Deal: 4yr · AAV: $55M · Context: extension off first full year as starter

6. T-3

   Former league-leader

   Trevor Lawrence

   Lawrence's Jaguars extension briefly stood as the league's largest total-value contract when he signed it in 2024, before the market moved past it in under a year. He completes the $55 million tie at the top of the second tier.

   The speed with which his deal was overtaken is the clearest illustration on this list of how fast the ceiling moves: a contract can lead the entire NFL in total value and slip out of the outright top five within a single offseason of new quarterback signings.

   Team: Jaguars · Signed: 2024 · AAV: $55M · Note: briefly the NFL's largest total deal

7. 7

   Redemption-arc payday

   Jared Goff

   Goff's extension, signed after Detroit's 2023 playoff breakthrough, pays $53 million a year and drops him just below the $55 million tie. The gap is small enough that some trackers slot him higher depending on how new money is counted.

   His deal caps one of the league's better second acts: a quarterback the Rams traded away became the centerpiece of Detroit's best roster in decades, which is the production case that justifies a top-seven salary rather than continuity for its own sake.

   Team: Lions · AAV: $53M · Signed: after 2023 playoff run · Case: rebuilt value after Rams trade

8. 8

   Arm-talent wager

   Justin Herbert

   Herbert's Chargers extension, also from 2024, averages $52.5 million and bet on elite arm talent despite only one playoff win at the time of signing. It was a then-record quarterback deal that has since aged better as Los Angeles returned to the postseason.

   He ranks a half-step below Goff on average annual value, and his placement leans on upside rather than accomplishment — the clearest case on the list of a team paying for a passing-game ceiling before the winning résumé caught up to the price.

   Team: Chargers · AAV: $52.5M · Signed: 2024 · Note: one playoff win at signing

9. 9

   Most-secured mid-tier deal

   Lamar Jackson

   Jackson's five-year, $260 million Ravens deal, signed in 2023, carries $185 million guaranteed with $135 million fully guaranteed at signing. At $52 million a year it trails the tiers above, but its guarantee ratio makes it one of the most secure deals on this list relative to size.

   He ranks ninth on AAV even though he negotiated the deal himself, without an agent, after a public standoff with Baltimore that later surfaced a collusion grievance over teams' reluctance to make competing offers. The security, not the average, is the story of this contract.

   Team: Ravens · Deal: 5yr / $260M · Guaranteed: $185M ($135M at signing) · AAV: $52M

10. 10

    Fast-aging record

    Jalen Hurts

    Hurts' Eagles extension, signed in 2023 at $51 million a year, was the NFL's highest-paid contract at signing and still sits in the top 10 three years later — proof of how quickly the ceiling climbs when a new passer signs almost every offseason.

    Philadelphia's bet paid off with a Super Bowl title the following season, which makes his one of the more clearly justified market-resetters here rather than a franchise overpaying for continuity. He ranks tenth today only because the market kept moving, not because the deal underdelivered.

    Team: Eagles · AAV: $51M · Signed: 2023 (record at the time) · Payoff: Super Bowl title after signing

11. 11

    Highest-paid non-QB by AAV

    Will Anderson Jr.

    Anderson's three-year, $150 million Texans extension carries $134 million guaranteed and makes him the highest-AAV non-quarterback in NFL history at $50 million a year — the only non-QB inside the top 12. Houston locked up its top pass rusher before free agency after double-digit-sack production.

    He ranks one spot above Micah Parsons on the metric this list uses even though Parsons' total contract is larger, because Anderson's shorter term concentrates the money into a higher yearly average. It is the cleanest example here of term length driving AAV.

    Team: Texans · Deal: 3yr / $150M · Guaranteed: $134M · Record: highest AAV ever for a non-QB

12. 12

    Largest non-QB total value

    Micah Parsons

    Parsons' four-year, $186 million Packers deal — reached after Green Bay traded for him in 2025 — carries $120 million fully guaranteed at signing and is the largest total-value contract for any non-quarterback in NFL history.

    His $46.5 million AAV ranks below Anderson's precisely because the longer term spreads a bigger pile of money across more years — the mirror image of Anderson's deal, and the reason total value and average salary can rank the same two players in opposite order. Parsons landed in Green Bay after extension talks with the Cowboys collapsed.

    Team: Packers · Deal: 4yr / $186M · Guaranteed at signing: $120M · Record: largest non-QB total ever

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