Sportsnaut
Who are the highest paid NFL players? As the salary cap climbs, the top NFL player salaries are skyrocketing each year with record-setting contracts resetting the market.
While quarterbacks are the highest-paid NFL players, teams are beginning to spend a lot more money on edge rushers, cornerbacks, offensive tackles, and wide receivers. Between the skyrocketing NFL salary cap, TV rights deals worth more than $100 billion and stadium revenue, the highest-paid players in NFL are cashing in.
Related: Where NFL revenue comes from
Here are the highest paid NFL players in 2025. We’ve broken down our list into sections; providing you with the highest paid NFL quarterbacks right now, the highest paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL and the highest paid NFL players by position.
Derek Stingley Jr. is the highest paid cornerback in the NFL right now. Selected by the Houston Texans with the third overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Stingley Jr. became the first cornerback to make $30 million per season. Interestingly, Stingley was part of the 2019 LSU Tigers team that featured four of the highest paid NFL players – Stingley Jr., Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson – with the star players signed to $666 million in total contracts. Moving forward, Stingley’s average annual salary ($30 million) will be more than he made in his first three NFL seasons. While $89 million of the three-year, $90 million deal was guaranteed, that includes his fully-guaranteed fifth-year team option for 2026 which is tacked onto the contract.
Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro lineman Chris Jones is the highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL. A second-round pick in he 2016 NFL Draft, Jones has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and earned Six Pro Bowl nods with six All-Pro selections. The 6-foot-6 defensive tackle also holds the NFL record for most consecutive games (11) with a sack. Jones’ deal likely ensures he’ll spend his entire career in Kansas City, as he won’t be a free agent until he is 35 years old.
Related: NFL defense rankings after NFL free agency, evaluating all 32 defenses
The Philadelphia Eagles signed wide receiver A.J. Brown to a three-year, $96 million contract extension in April 2024, moving him back into the list of the 10 highest paid NFL players. Months later, the All-Pro wideout scored a touchdown in the team’s Super Bowl LIX victory. Heading into his age-28 season, Brown is under team control through 2029 with a sizable $53.52 million dead cap hit when his contract expires in 2030.
The Pittsburgh Steelers traded for wide receiver DK Metcalf in March, sending a 2025 second-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks, then...
