Terrance Knighton Rips NFL, NBA Contract Gap After James Harden's Record Deal

After the Houston Rockets announced the signing of James Harden to a record-breaking contract extension Saturday, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Terrance Knighton took to Twitter to bemoan the difference in pay between the NBA and NFL.

Knighton started by tweeting about the need for NFL players to collectively bargain a deal that nets them a bigger piece of the league's ample financial pie:

"

NFL makes billions a year. Time to get back to that negotiation table. And this time we need to stay strong and not budge. Make em Pay!!!

— Terrance Knighton (@MisterRoast98) July 8, 2017"

Knighton then tweeted that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers deserves to make more money than Harden.

Harden signed a four-year extension that will make his overall deal worth $228 million through the 2022-23 season, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst.

Knighton tweeted several other comparisons, saying that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and Atlanta Falcons wideout Julio Jones should be paid more than Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley and Toronto Raptors wing DeMar DeRozan, respectively.

Although the 31-year-old veteran appeared to be slighting NBA players in his tweets, he made it clear that he didn't feel NBA players should be paid less; just that NFL players deserved to be paid more.

According to Spotrac, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco will be the highest-paid NFL player in 2017 with a salary of $24.55 million.

Meanwhile, Curry will lead the way in the NBA with a salary of $34,682,550, per Spotrac.

A total of 17 NBA players are set to make more than Flacco during the upcoming campaign.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the differences in salary is NBA rosters have just 15 players, while NFL rosters have 53.

In that respect, the NFL would have to increase its salary cap exponentially for NFL contracts to exceed those of the NBA's top players.