Who are the NFL’s highest-paid players for 2022?
NFL free agency arrives every March and when it does, the NFL’s teams open their checkbooks to sign the top players available. Free agency became the top way teams improve their squads long ago. This spring has already seen a number of big – and not so big names – move for large contracts.
The NFL has some extremely high paid players heading into 2022. The recent market of quarterbacks has led to a number of players getting paid large wages. Listing the highest-paid players in the NFL isn’t necessarily an exact science; but using the annual value of a player’s contract will give us an idea of who the NFL’s highest-paid players for 2022 are.
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- Deshaun Watson, QB, Browns
Annual salary: $39 million
Watson was traded from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns on March 18. The move was a long time coming as Watson was eager to get out of Houston. Unfortunately for the quarterback, it isn’t his passing that fans are talking about. There are sexual misconduct allegations that have followed Watson to Cleveland.
- Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
Annual salary: $40 million
Prescott came back from an ankle injury in 2020 and to post a career-high 68.8 completion percentage for the Cowboys. He also passed for 37 touchdowns last season. While Prescott has been excellent in the regular season with a record of 53-32, he is an abysmal 1-3 in four postseason games.
- Josh Allen, QB, Bills
Annual salary: $43 million
Allen agreed a contract in August of 2021 to pay him $150 million in guaranteed money. The deal was the biggest in NFL history in terms of guaranteed money until recently. Allen continues to improve as a quarterback in the NFL. Once a laughing stock of the NFL, Allen led Buffalo to three straight double-digit winning campaigns and qualification to the playoffs.
- Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs
Annual salary: $45 million
In four years as a starter for the Kansas City Chiefs, Mahomes played in two Super Bowls. Incredibly, Mahomes has qualified for the AFC Championship Game at the very least in four seasons. The Chiefs gave him the NFL’s richest-ever contract worth $450m over 10 years. The decision to give Mahomes so much money doesn’t appear to be a mistake as the quarterback continues to be one of the best – if not the best – in the NFL.
- Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers
Annual salary: $50.3 million
Rodgers will turn 39 before the NFL 2022 season ends. Despite being on the door steps of 40, the Green Bay Packers made Rodgers the NFL’s highest-paid player for 2022 with a three-year contract extension in March. The contract extension either shows that Rodgers is an ironman with a body and mind that can continue going, or that the Packers do not have a plan to move away from the quarterback. Over the last two campaigns, Rodgers three for 85 touchdowns, 8,414 combined yards, and completed 69.8% of his passes.
