By Marvin Moore July 13, 2023
The 2023 NFL season is fast approaching, and quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts have already signed lucrative extensions. Several signal-callers, including Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Dak Prescott, are in line to ink massive extensions in the near future. Below are the 11 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league heading into the upcoming season.
T9. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams – $40 million
The fastest player in NFL history to reach 40,000 career passing yards, Stafford was traded to the Rams in the spring of 2021 and promptly helped Los Angeles win Super Bowl LVI despite throwing a league-high 17 interceptions.
The top overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the 35-year-old inked a four-year, $160 million extension with the Rams during the 2022 offseason. However, Stafford played in only nine games last season, and former NFL executive Michael Lombardi said recently that the Rams attempted to trade Stafford this past winter to get out from under his bloated contract.
T9. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys – $40 million
The 2022 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year, Prescott threw a league-high of 15 interceptions last season despite missing five games with a thumb injury. The 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year signed a four-year contract extension with the Cowboys in 2021 for $160 million, with $126 million guaranteed and a record-setting $66 million signing bonus. Prescott, a former fourth-round pick, has won just two of his six playoff starts but is still headed for another massive payday in the near future.
T9. Daniel Jones, New York Giants – $40 million
The sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Jones has thrown only 60 touchdown passes in 53 league starts. The former Duke product has 57 career turnovers and has averaged a paltry 12 scoring passes over his last three seasons. Still, the Giants signed the 26-year-old quarterback to a four-year, $160 million contract extension this past March despite his 21-31-1 record.
8. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills – $43 million
The former top-10 pick has blossomed into one of the league’s upper-tier signal-callers and has posted a stellar 52-24 record in 76 career starting assignments. The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback has averaged 36 touchdown passes in the past three seasons while averaging 762.5 rushing yards over the last two years. Allen signed a six-year contract extension in the summer of 2021 worth up to $258 million with $150 million guaranteed.
7. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs – $45 million
Already considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history heading into his seventh season, Mahomes has won 64 of 80 regular season games. The former Texas Tech gunslinger is also 11-3 in the
postseason with five consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances and two Super Bowl MVP awards. The 27-year-old inked the third-largest known contract in sporting history in 2020 with a 10-year contract extension worth $503 million.
6. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns – $46 million
The former first-round pick is a three-time Pro Bowler who led the league in passing yards in 2020 with 4,823. A consensus collegiate All-American, Watson has won 10 or more games twice in 4.5 seasons despite playing for the dysfunctional Houston Texans franchise. The 27-year-old signed one of the largest fully-guaranteed contracts in NFL history – a five-year deal worth $230 million.
5. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals – $46.1 million
The first player to be drafted in the first round of the NFL and MLB, Murray earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after throwing for 3,722 yards and 20 touchdowns, and rushing for 544 yards and four scores. The 2018 Heisman Trophy winner signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension last year with $160 million guaranteed.
4. Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos – $49 million
One of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks of all time, Wilson has thrown for 40,583 yards and 308 touchdowns while adding 4,966 yards on the ground with 26 scores. The nine-time Pro Bowler has posted a 108-64-1 record in 173 games and inked a five-year, $245 million contract extension with the Broncos last fall.
3. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets – $50.272 million
The fifth player to win NFL MVP in consecutive seasons, Rodgers has won the award four times and is a first-ballot future Hall of Famer. The 10-time Pro Bowl quarterback has thrown over 59,000 passing yards and 475 touchdown passes in 18 seasons. The 39-year-old signed a three-year contract worth $150.8 million last year with $101.5 million guaranteed.
2. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles – $51 million
The former second-round pick put together an MVP-caliber campaign last season with 3,701 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, and 760 rushing yards with 13 scores. The 24-year-old Texan won 14 of his 15 regular season starts in 2022 and was rewarded with a five-year contract extension for $255 million with $180 million guaranteed.
1. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens – $52 million
The 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player, Jackson led the league with 36 touchdown passes while tallying 1,206 rushing yards and seven scores. The former Heisman Trophy winner was the first quarterback to have more than one season with 1,000 rushing yards and became the highest-paid player in the NFL earlier this year after signing a five-year $260 million contract.
