10 Interesting Contract-Related NFL Facts After the Heart of 2025 Free Agency
The monster free-agent deals have been signed, and some of the key big-money extensions on our radar for 2025 have been finalized.
While plenty of notable contracts will still be consummated this offseason, we can step back now and make some interesting observations based on the money that’s been spent throughout the NFL.
Here are 10 finance facts that stand out as we transition from free agency to the draft.
Contract and related information courtesy of Spotrac
The Bengals Are Paying More to 3 Players Than the Entire 2013 Salary Cap
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Quarterback Joe Burrow was already making $55 million per year on his mega contract, and now the Bengals have secured receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins with deals worth $40.25 million and $28.75 million per season, respectively.
That makes this the highest-paid trio in NFL history, at an AAV of $124 million.
For perspective on how far we’ve come, those three alone at those rates would put the Bengals over the 2013 salary cap, which was $123.6 million.
Cincinnati faces a lot of pressure to capitalize with this core and prove that it hasn’t put too many of its eggs in three baskets.
Trevor Lawrence Remains the Second-Highest-Paid Player in NFL History
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He’s at least tied in second with Burrow, Josh Allen and Jordan Love with an AAV of $55 million, which is wild considering that the Jaguars have won a total of 22 games with Lawrence in the four seasons that have transpired since they drafted him first overall in 2021.
In that span, the injury-prone and inconsistent 25-year-old has been the league’s fifth-lowest-rated qualified passer, ahead of only Mac Jones, Daniel Jones, Justin Fields and Zach Wilson.
On top of all that, the Jags are married to Lawrence for several more years, as the dead-cap hits on his contract exceed $40 million in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
The 9 Highest-Paid QBs in the NFL Have a Combined Zero Super Bowl Wins
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The list includes seven quarterbacks who have never played in a Super Bowl (Dak Prescott, Allen, Lawrence, Love, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson) and two who have fallen short in the Big Game (Burrow and Jared Goff).
The highest-paid quarterbacks with rings are Jalen Hurts (10th), Patrick Mahomes (T-13th) and Matthew Stafford (T-16th).
Altogether, only seven of the 42 players making more than $26 million per year have won a championship.
Dak Prescott Is the Only Player Over 30 Making More Than $45 Million a Year
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He of two career playoff wins, and the only $60-million-a-year player in the history of professional football. The 11 other quarterbacks making more than $45 mil per season are 30 or under.
Prescott has lacked consistency and durability for much of his career and has failed to deliver when it matters most, even with plenty of offensive support.
There’s a good chance he’ll never see as much support as he did when Dallas had a jacked offensive line and a top-notch group of skill-position players. And while he still has some solid weapons, particularly in the receiving corps, the 31-year-old Prescott might also be beyond his prime.
That four-year, $240 million 2024 contract extension was an obvious mistake by the Cowboys.
32 Players Now Make at Least $30 Million a Year
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This number kinda stands out to me because for much of this century it was simply unattainable. It was that number that even Alex Rodriguez couldn’t quite hit over all those years in which he was the highest-paid player in American sports. It was only in the last decade or so that LeBron James, Clayton Kershaw and Matt Ryan broke through in their respective leagues.
Ryan and Aaron Rodgers were $30 million men in 2018, four more quarterbacks joined them in 2019, four more in 2020, the number rose to 14 in 2022 and now including two non-quarterbacks (Aaron Donald and Tyreek Hill), it jumped to 19 in 2023, 26 in 2024 and now 32 with the additions of Chase, Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, Sam Darnold, DK Metcalf and Derek Stingley Jr.
It’s wild how high the bar is moving.
16 of the 17 Largest Contracts in NFL History Are Active
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Another way to illustrate the moving bar? Seventeen players in league history have had contracts worth at least $41 million per year, and 16 of those are active deals.
The only one that is now dead? The three-year, $150.8 million Aaron Rodgers contract the Jets terminated this offseason.
Every single one of the 27 most lucrative deals in NFL history has been signed since 2020.
The Patriots Still Have the Money to Sign About 6 Starting-Caliber Players
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They won’t, because they’re the Patriots, they have to fill the roster in balanced fashion, and they’ll likely want to carry some cash over to 2026. But it goes to show just how cap-rich the Pats are that even after making several free-agent splashes on defense, they possess just short of $90 million in salary-cap space.
No other team in the league has $70 million to spend.
New England essentially has the space to pay six players $15 million salaries. In other words, starting-caliber dudes like Nick Bolton, Camryn Bynum, Cooper Kupp, Talanoa Hufanga, Haason Reddick or Drew Dalman.
If they’re smart, it’s only a matter of time before this team is super-competitive again.
The Steelers Defense Costs Nearly Twice as Much as Their Offense
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That according to the handy positional spending chart at Over the Cap, which has the Steelers committed to an AFC-low $82.9 million on offense (even after acquiring and paying Metcalf) and a league-high $152.5 million on defense.
Of course, it helps when you’ve only tied up about $1 million to the quarterback position, but we all know that must change soon.
Are the Steelers overdoing it? Before inking Metcalf, their top five cap hits belonged to veteran defenders. Meanwhile, there’s still a glaring hole under center, and the offensive line contains significant question marks following several offseason departures.
They’ve still got cash to spend, and this is very Steeler-like, but it also feels a little too 1970s.
7 Undrafted Players Now Make at Least $12 Million a Year
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Rags to riches? Only three undrafted players possessed contracts worth at least that annual salary in 2024, but that number has more than doubled with Alaric Jackson, Charvarius Ward, Tershawn Wharton and Patrick Mekari striking gold this offseason.
Jackson is now the highest-paid undrafted free agent in NFL history at $18.8 million per season, beating out Tony Romo’s peak of $18.0 million. And this new group of undrafted rich guys now makes up about a third of the all-time list of $12-million-a-year UDFAs (of which there are 22 in total).
Rodgers and Stafford Are Vying to Become the NFL's First $400 Million Earner
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In terms of overall career earnings, Rodgers ($380.7 million) has a slight edge over Stafford ($364.3 million), but the former is now a free agent at the age of 41. Stafford, 37, has shut down retirement rumors and is on track to make $27 million in 2025.
There’s a chance Rodgers eclipses the $400 million mark if/when he signs somewhere this spring. Otherwise, one or the other could hit that plateau in 2026.
The 13 highest earners in league history are all quarterbacks, with offensive tackle Trent Williams leading all non-QBs at $196.1 million and Von Miller leading all defensive players at $191.8 million.
All of these guys will eventually be surpassed by several active players, with Patrick Mahomes ($182.0 million to date), Josh Allen ($174.6 million thus far), Lamar Jackson ($144.6 million) and Joe Burrow ($141.9 million) on the most obvious tracks.
My money is on Allen becoming the highest earner in pro football history by 2030.
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