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NFL · DEFENCE · 150 CAREERS

Highest paid NFL defensive ends

$4,261,732,950 paid to 150 defensive ends, $28,411,553 a career, led by Von Miller on $224,853,311.

Defensive End is the 4th best paid of the 18 positions the league has enough careers to rank, $28.4m a career against $23.0m for the average NFL career on this site. Less of a defensive end's money is the weekly paycheque than the league average: 48.8% against 52.9%. The rest is guaranteed in advance, which is what a club does when it is committing years ahead.

PER CAREER $28.4m
PAID IN ALL $4.26bn
CAREERS 150
STILL PLAYING 58
BASE SALARY 48.8%

The twenty richest defensive ends

Money paid across a whole career

Von Miller $224.9m

Von Miller $225m Leonard Williams $172m Myles Garrett $170m Cameron Heyward $161m Nick Bosa $155m Cameron Jordan $151m Danielle Hunter $144m Calais Campbell $144m DeMarcus Lawrence $127m Arik Armstead $125m Maxx Crosby $106m Preston Smith $105m Rashan Gary $101m Za'Darius Smith $101m Montez Sweat $96m Jerry Hughes $92m Leonard Floyd $85m Trey Hendrickson $84m Dante Fowler Jr. $64m Dre'Mont Jones $57m

Von Miller has been paid $52.5m more than any other defensive end the site holds, and the twenty here account for 57.8% of everything the position has earned.

Every defensive end ranked by career earnings

Money paid, and what is still contracted

150 careers

# Player Franchise Seasons Signing Contracted Career earnings
001 Von Miller Texas A&M Buffalo Bills 17 $49.4m $30.0m $224,853,311$224.9m
002 Leonard Williams Southern California Seattle Seahawks 12 $70.5m $172,343,576$172.3m
003 Myles Garrett Texas A&M Cleveland Browns 10 $41.3m $169,525,026$169.5m
004 Cameron Heyward Ohio State Pittsburgh Steelers 16 $50.3m $160,582,735$160.6m
005 Nick Bosa Ohio State San Francisco 49ers 10 $72.4m $67.2m $155,386,793$155.4m
006 Cameron Jordan California New Orleans Saints 15 $35.6m $150,520,690$150.5m
007 Danielle Hunter Louisiana State Houston Texans 11 $42.1m $143,864,477$143.9m
008 Calais Campbell Miami (FL) Miami Dolphins 17 $40.9m $143,668,685$143.7m
009 DeMarcus Lawrence Boise State Dallas Cowboys 11 $39.2m $127,349,519$127.3m
010 Arik Armstead Oregon Jacksonville Jaguars 12 $35.4m $124,652,247$124.7m
011 Maxx Crosby Eastern Michigan Las Vegas Raiders 8 $13.8m $106,253,315$106.3m
012 Preston Smith Mississippi State Green Bay Packers 12 $37.2m $104,826,443$104.8m
013 Rashan Gary Michigan Green Bay Packers 9 $44.2m $22.5m $100,994,194$101.0m
014 Za'Darius Smith Kentucky Cleveland Browns 11 $45.6m $100,967,546$101.0m
015 Montez Sweat Mississippi State Chicago Bears 9 $11.6m $21.0m $96,147,749$96.1m
016 Jerry Hughes Texas Christian Houston Texans 15 $18.7m $91,834,385$91.8m
017 Leonard Floyd Georgia San Francisco 49ers 10 $45.3m $85,376,577$85.4m
018 Trey Hendrickson Florida Atlantic Cincinnati Bengals 9 $18.7m $84,195,219$84.2m
019 Dante Fowler Jr. Florida Washington Commanders 10 $34.7m $64,431,466$64.4m
020 Dre'Mont Jones Ohio State Seattle Seahawks 7 $21.1m $57,452,240$57.5m
021 Emmanuel Ogbah Oklahoma State Miami Dolphins 9 $11.8m $57,430,142$57.4m
022 Zach Allen Boston College Denver Broncos 7 $16.1m $51,745,658$51.7m
023 A'Shawn Robinson Alabama Carolina Panthers 11 $17.0m $51,082,526$51.1m
024 Dorance Armstrong Kansas Washington Commanders 9 $20.2m $49,057,892$49.1m
025 Chase Young Ohio State New Orleans Saints 5 $25.1m $48,568,594$48.6m
026 Larry Ogunjobi Charlotte Pittsburgh Steelers 9 $22.6m $48,287,475$48.3m
027 Carl Granderson Wyoming New Orleans Saints 9 $11.3m $12.7m $46,550,000$46.5m
028 Sam Hubbard Ohio State Cincinnati Bengals 8 $10.9m $45,276,424$45.3m
029 John Franklin-Myers Stephen F. Austin Denver Broncos 8 $6.5m $44,242,935$44.2m
030 Zach Sieler Ferris State Miami Dolphins 9 $9.1m $41,956,078$42.0m
031 Samson Ebukam Eastern Washington Indianapolis Colts 9 $13.1m $40,695,166$40.7m
032 Marcus Davenport Texas-San Antonio Detroit Lions 7 $21.2m $40,570,483$40.6m
033 William Gholston Michigan State Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 $3.4m $39,748,946$39.7m
034 Micah Parsons Penn State Dallas Cowboys 5 $9.8m $38,403,792$38.4m
035 Clelin Ferrell Clemson Washington Commanders 6 $23.2m $37,616,008$37.6m
036 Dean Lowry Northwestern Pittsburgh Steelers 10 $10.6m $36,434,318$36.4m
037 Aidan Hutchinson Michigan Detroit Lions 4 $23.2m $35,715,388$35.7m
038 Will Anderson Alabama Houston Texans 4 $22.6m $35,213,096$35.2m
039 Derek Barnett Tennessee Houston Texans 9 $8.2m $30,702,939$30.7m
040 Michael Danna Michigan Kansas City Chiefs 7 $6.8m $29,440,097$29.4m
041 DeMarcus Walker Florida State Chicago Bears 9 $4.2m $28,872,265$28.9m
042 Zaven Collins Tulsa Arizona Cardinals 6 $13.1m $28,826,247$28.8m
043 Deatrich Wise Arkansas New England Patriots 8 $5.6m $28,421,280$28.4m
044 Kwity Paye Michigan Indianapolis Colts 5 $7.3m $27,031,833$27.0m
045 Yetur Gross-Matos Penn State San Francisco 49ers 6 $11.8m $26,285,249$26.3m
046 Payton Turner Houston New Orleans Saints 5 $6.5m $25,911,737$25.9m
047 Sebastian Joseph Rutgers Tennessee Titans 8 $10.2m $25,278,122$25.3m
048 Ogbonnia Okoronkwo Oklahoma Cleveland Browns 8 $6.4m $25,123,230$25.1m
049 Tyree Wilson Texas Tech Las Vegas Raiders 4 $15.2m $25,005,500$25.0m
050 Greg Rousseau Miami (FL) Buffalo Bills 5 $5.8m $24,995,200$25.0m
051 Charles Harris Missouri Carolina Panthers 9 $12.3m $23,967,956$24.0m
052 Tyquan Lewis Ohio State Indianapolis Colts 8 $6.8m $20,933,983$20.9m
053 Charles Omenihu Texas Kansas City Chiefs 6 $8.2m $20,839,874$20.8m
054 Dawuane Smoot Illinois Buffalo Bills 8 $7.7m $20,201,790$20.2m
055 Poona Ford Texas Los Angeles Chargers 7 $4.9m $18,593,000$18.6m
056 A.J. Epenesa Iowa Buffalo Bills 6 $5.8m $18,051,950$18.1m
057 Lukas Van Ness Iowa Green Bay Packers 4 $9.6m $17,388,091$17.4m
058 Will McDonald Iowa State New York Jets 4 $8.9m $16,321,672$16.3m
059 Takkarist McKinley California-Los Angeles New York Jets 11 $6.7m $15,438,648$15.4m
060 Morgan Fox Colorado State-Pueblo Los Angeles Chargers 9 $5.7m $15,184,757$15.2m
061 Calijah Kancey Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 $7.5m $14,493,474$14.5m
062 Tanoh Kpassagnon Villanova New Orleans Saints 8 $3.2m $14,290,468$14.3m
063 Laiatu Latu California-Los Angeles Indianapolis Colts 4 $9.2m $3.1m $13,914,363$13.9m
064 L.J. Collier Texas Christian Arizona Cardinals 6 $6.0m $13,394,418$13.4m
065 Jermaine Johnson Florida State New York Jets 4 $6.7m $13,087,443$13.1m
066 Myles Murphy Clemson Cincinnati Bengals 4 $6.2m $12,587,262$12.6m
067 Jake Martin Temple Chicago Bears 10 $4.4m $12,345,484$12.3m
068 George Karlaftis Purdue Kansas City Chiefs 4 $5.9m $11,935,474$11.9m
069 Felix Anudike-Uzomah Kansas State Kansas City Chiefs 4 $5.6m $11,817,816$11.8m
070 Darius Robinson Missouri Arizona Cardinals 4 $6.9m $2.7m $11,186,759$11.2m
071 Brent Urban Virginia Baltimore Ravens 11 $1.9m $10,653,862$10.7m
072 John Cominsky Charleston Detroit Lions 6 $2.9m $10,280,067$10.3m
073 Malcolm Roach Texas Denver Broncos 6 $2.5m $9,861,383$9.9m
074 Jonathan Bullard Florida Minnesota Vikings 10 $2.5m $9,836,942$9.8m
075 Logan Hall Houston Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 $4.0m $9,316,455$9.3m
076 B.J. Ojulari Louisiana State Arizona Cardinals 4 $3.3m $8,807,372$8.8m
077 Isaiah Foskey Notre Dame New Orleans Saints 4 $3.4m $8,734,721$8.7m
078 Neville Gallimore Oklahoma Los Angeles Rams 6 $1.6m $8,006,702$8.0m
079 David Ojabo Michigan Baltimore Ravens 4 $2.9m $7,909,120$7.9m
080 Keion White Georgia Tech New England Patriots 4 $2.7m $7,790,161$7.8m
081 Ruke Orhorhoro Clemson Atlanta Falcons 4 $4.0m $2.1m $7,768,927$7.8m
082 Josh Paschal Kentucky Detroit Lions 4 $2.8m $7,735,650$7.7m
083 Efe Obada Washington Commanders 10 $953k $7,592,442$7.6m
084 Braden Fiske Florida State Los Angeles Rams 4 $3.7m $2.1m $7,331,923$7.3m
085 Kentavius Street North Carolina State Atlanta Falcons 8 $1.4m $6,927,202$6.9m
086 Milton Williams Louisiana Tech Philadelphia Eagles 4 $1.1m $6,869,330$6.9m
087 Da'shawn Hand Alabama Miami Dolphins 9 $884k $6,686,440$6.7m
088 Sam Williams Mississippi Dallas Cowboys 4 $2.0m $6,526,744$6.5m
089 Dayo Odeyingbo Vanderbilt Indianapolis Colts 4 $1.9m $6,177,521$6.2m
090 Maason Smith Louisiana State Jacksonville Jaguars 4 $2.7m $1.9m $6,130,154$6.1m
091 Drake Jackson Southern California San Francisco 49ers 4 $1.5m $5,892,392$5.9m
092 Zach Harrison Ohio State Atlanta Falcons 4 $1.0m $5,865,644$5.9m
093 Cam Thomas San Diego State Kansas City Chiefs 4 $921k $5,410,899$5.4m
094 Alex Wright Alabama-Birmingham Cleveland Browns 4 $1.0m $5,293,574$5.3m
095 Marshawn Kneeland Western Michigan Dallas Cowboys 4 $1.8m $1.7m $5,105,921$5.1m
096 DeMarvin Leal Texas A&M Pittsburgh Steelers 4 $952k $5,079,955$5.1m
097 Malcolm Koonce Buffalo Las Vegas Raiders 4 $995k $4,997,960$5.0m
098 Joseph Ossai Texas Cincinnati Bengals 4 $1.1m $4,947,616$4.9m
099 James Smith-Williams North Carolina State Atlanta Falcons 5 $265k $4,685,200$4.7m
100 Eyioma Uwazurike Iowa State Denver Broncos 4 $766k $4,655,868$4.7m
101 Colby Wooden Auburn Green Bay Packers 4 $768k $4,607,928$4.6m
102 Isaiah McGuire Missouri Cleveland Browns 4 $712k $4,551,932$4.6m
103 Tyler Lacy Oklahoma State Jacksonville Jaguars 4 $687k $4,527,124$4.5m
104 Dylan Horton Texas Christian Houston Texans 4 $801k $4,524,371$4.5m
105 Micheal Clemons Texas A&M New York Jets 4 $764k $4,424,096$4.4m
106 Dante Stills West Virginia Arizona Cardinals 4 $133k $4,360,433$4.4m
107 Cameron Sample Tulane Cincinnati Bengals 4 $788k $4,268,144$4.3m
108 K.J. Henry Clemson Cincinnati Bengals 4 $359k $4,199,264$4.2m
109 B.J. Thompson Stephen F. Austin Kansas City Chiefs 4 $272k $4,111,652$4.1m
110 Casey Toohill Stanford Buffalo Bills 5 $107k $4,096,443$4.1m
111 Jeremiah Ledbetter Arkansas Jacksonville Jaguars 9 $1.1m $4,048,189$4.0m
112 Ta'Quon Graham Texas Atlanta Falcons 4 $351k $4,011,086$4.0m
113 Dominique Robinson Miami (OH) Chicago Bears 4 $273k $3,933,156$3.9m
114 Moro Ojomo Texas Philadelphia Eagles 4 $78k $3,917,784$3.9m
115 Desjuan Johnson Toledo Los Angeles Rams 4 $78k $3,917,776$3.9m
116 Kingsley Enagbare South Carolina Green Bay Packers 4 $243k $3,902,552$3.9m
117 Robert Beal Jr. Georgia San Francisco 49ers 4 $245k $3,884,978$3.9m
118 D.J. Davidson Arizona State New York Giants 4 $354k $3,815,506$3.8m
119 Isaiahh Loudermilk Wisconsin Pittsburgh Steelers 4 $320k $3,800,288$3.8m
120 Mike Morris Michigan Seattle Seahawks 4 $322k $3,775,410$3.8m
121 Janarius Robinson Florida State Las Vegas Raiders 5 $2.0m $3,669,964$3.7m
122 Justin Eboigbe Alabama Los Angeles Chargers 4 $839k $1.2m $3,669,012$3.7m
123 Brandon Dorlus Oregon Atlanta Falcons 4 $822k $1.2m $3,652,396$3.7m
124 Xavier Thomas Clemson Arizona Cardinals 4 $351k $1.2m $3,180,624$3.2m
125 Austin Booker Kansas Chicago Bears 4 $349k $1.2m $3,179,140$3.2m
126 Malik Herring Georgia Kansas City Chiefs 4 $25k $3,163,333$3.2m
127 Javon Solomon Troy Buffalo Bills 4 $254k $1.2m $3,084,276$3.1m
128 Cedric Johnson Mississippi Cincinnati Bengals 4 $138k $1.2m $2,968,388$3.0m
129 Javontae Jean-Baptiste Notre Dame Washington Commanders 4 $121k $1.2m $2,951,188$3.0m
130 Myles Cole Texas Tech Jacksonville Jaguars 4 $104k $1.2m $2,934,076$2.9m
131 Braiden McGregor Michigan New York Jets 3 $20k $2,850,000$2.8m
132 Eric Watts Connecticut New York Jets 3 $20k $2,850,000$2.8m
133 Myles Adams Rice Seattle Seahawks 5 $0 $2,778,932$2.8m
134 Logan Lee Iowa Pittsburgh Steelers 4 $220k $1.2m $2,725,072$2.7m
135 Brenton Cox Jr. Florida Green Bay Packers 3 $9k $2,704,000$2.7m
136 Nate Lynn William & Mary Detroit Lions 3 $15k $2,520,000$2.5m
137 Popo Aumavae Oregon Carolina Panthers 3 $15k $2,520,000$2.5m
138 Esezi Otomewo Minnesota Jacksonville Jaguars 3 $309k $2,145,048$2.1m
139 Isaiah Land Florida A&M Indianapolis Colts 3 $5k $1,950,000$1.9m
140 LaBryan Ray Alabama Carolina Panthers 3 $25k $1,872,000$1.9m
141 Daniel Hardy Montana State Chicago Bears 3 $148k $1,752,374$1.8m
142 Durrell Johnson Liberty Dallas Cowboys 3 $10k $1,646,000$1.6m
143 Earnest Brown Northwestern Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 $446k $1,633,934$1.6m
144 Tyrus Wheat Mississippi State Dallas Cowboys 2 $20k $1,456,666$1.5m
145 Charles Snowden Virginia Las Vegas Raiders 4 $27k $1,266,432
146 Jordan Jackson Air Force Denver Broncos 3 $177k $1,218,000
147 Eric Banks Texas-San Antonio Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6 $286k $1,215,338
148 Ali Gaye Louisiana State Tennessee Titans 2 $10k $1,011,000
149 TK McLendon Jr. Eastern Kentucky Tennessee Titans 2 $6k $1,010,003
150 Jalen Redmond Oklahoma Minnesota Vikings 2 $20k $910,000

The table holds every one of the 150 careers at the position. The contracted column is money written into a deal for a season that has not been played, so it is not in the career figure beside it. The whole league's contracted money is ranked here.

How a defensive end's money is paid

The seven parts of a contract, for this position and for the league

48.8% base salary

  • Base salary 48.8%
  • Signing bonus 31.0%
  • Restructured money 5.2%
  • Roster bonus 8.8%
  • Option bonus 5.0%
  • Workout bonus 0.6%
  • Incentives 0.5%
Part of the contract What it is This position The league Paid
Base salary the weekly paycheque, and the part that stops the day a player is cut 48.8% 52.9% $2,137,864,205$2.14bn
Signing bonus paid up front and guaranteed the moment the contract is signed 31.0% 27.6% $1,359,685,640$1.36bn
Restructured money base salary converted to signing money so a deal fits under the cap 5.2% 6.3% $227,289,370$227.3m
Roster bonus paid for being on the roster on a named day of the year 8.8% 6.6% $384,803,460$384.8m
Option bonus paid to take up a season already written into the deal 5.0% 5.3% $219,821,145$219.8m
Workout bonus paid for turning up to the offseason programme 0.6% 0.7% $27,594,744$27.6m
Incentives paid for hitting a number 0.5% 0.5% $23,129,946$23.1m

Less of a defensive end's money is the weekly paycheque than the league average: 48.8% against 52.9%. The rest is guaranteed in advance, which is what a club does when it is committing years ahead. Base salary and signing bonus money are each ranked across the whole league on their own pages.

What the league pays defensive ends each season

Every defensive end on a payroll that year, added together

Peak in 2023

2023 is the biggest year for defensive end pay on record at $705,611,681 across 135 players, which is $5.2m each. The whole 2023 payroll is here.

Defensive End money by franchise

What the defensive ends on each roster have earned in their careers

32 franchises

# Franchise Players Per player Career earnings
01 Houston Texans 5 $61.2m $306,139,268$306.1m
02 Cleveland Browns 5 $61.1m $305,461,308$305.5m
03 Buffalo Bills 6 $49.2m $295,282,970$295.3m
04 New Orleans Saints 6 $49.1m $294,576,210$294.6m
05 San Francisco 49ers 5 $55.4m $276,825,989$276.8m
06 Pittsburgh Steelers 6 $42.8m $256,909,843$256.9m
07 Miami Dolphins 4 $62.4m $249,741,345$249.7m
08 Seattle Seahawks 4 $59.1m $236,350,158$236.4m
09 Green Bay Packers 6 $39.1m $234,423,208$234.4m
10 Dallas Cowboys 6 $30.1m $180,488,642$180.5m
11 Washington Commanders 5 $32.3m $161,648,996$161.6m
12 Cincinnati Bengals 7 $22.6m $158,442,317$158.4m
13 Chicago Bears 6 $24.4m $146,230,168$146.2m
14 Jacksonville Jaguars 6 $24.1m $144,436,838$144.4m
15 Las Vegas Raiders 5 $28.2m $141,193,171$141.2m
16 Denver Broncos 5 $22.3m $111,723,844$111.7m
17 Indianapolis Colts 6 $18.5m $110,702,866$110.7m
18 Detroit Lions 5 $19.4m $96,821,588$96.8m
19 Kansas City Chiefs 7 $12.4m $86,719,145$86.7m
20 Carolina Panthers 4 $19.9m $79,442,482$79.4m
21 Arizona Cardinals 6 $11.6m $69,755,853$69.8m
22 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 $13.3m $66,408,147$66.4m
23 New York Jets 6 $9.2m $54,971,859$55.0m
24 Los Angeles Chargers 3 $12.5m $37,446,769$37.4m
25 New England Patriots 2 $18.1m $36,211,441$36.2m
26 Atlanta Falcons 6 $5.5m $32,910,455$32.9m
27 Tennessee Titans 3 $9.1m $27,299,125$27.3m
28 Los Angeles Rams 3 $6.4m $19,256,401$19.3m
29 Baltimore Ravens 2 $9.3m $18,562,982$18.6m
30 Philadelphia Eagles 2 $5.4m $10,787,114$10.8m
31 Minnesota Vikings 2 $5.4m $10,746,942$10.7m
32 New York Giants 1 $3.8m $3,815,506$3.8m

A career total lands on the franchise a player is at now, so this is a ranking of which rosters hold the expensive defensive ends rather than of which clubs wrote the cheques. Every franchise is ranked here.

Where a defensive end is drafted

Career earnings by the round a player was taken in

119 with a round on record

Round 1 $62m Round 2 $30m Round 3 $32m Round 4 $25m Round 5 $7.8m Round 6 $7.6m Round 7 $8.8m

A first-round defensive end has earned $62.1m a career against $8.8m for one taken in round 7. The whole draft is ranked here.

Which colleges produce the richest defensive ends

Schools with three or more in the position

16 colleges

Ohio State $494m
Texas A&M $404m
Michigan $208m
Mississippi State $202m
Louisiana State $160m
Oregon $131m
Texas Christian $110m
Alabama $99m
Georgia $92m
Florida $77m
Clemson $65m
Texas $62m
Florida State $53m
Missouri $40m
Iowa $38m

Ohio State has put 7 defensive ends into the league, worth $494,066,413 between them. Every college is ranked across all positions here.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the highest paid NFL defensive end of all time?

Von Miller, $224,853,311, a first-round pick in 2011, 2nd overall. Leonard Williams is second on $172,343,576.

How much does an NFL defensive end earn over a career?

$28,411,553 on average across the 150 careers here, and 4th of 18 positions on money per career. The figure is money actually paid rather than the headline value of a contract.

Is a defensive end's money guaranteed?

31.0% of it arrives as a signing bonus, which is the part that cannot be taken back, against 27.6% across the league. The other 48.8% is base salary and it stops the day a player is released.

Which franchise has paid the most at defensive end?

Houston Texans, $306,139,268 across the 5 players on its books, counted as everything those careers have earned anywhere.

How many NFL defensive ends are still playing?

58 of the 150 here were on a roster in 2026, with $177,813,372 written into contracts for seasons not yet played.

Where to next

The positions either side of this one, and the rest of the money

Quarterback · Wide Receiver · Defensive Tackle · Cornerback · Outside Linebacker · Safety · Long Snapper · Fullback · Every position · NFL career earnings

The fifty richest defensive ends

Every position

By season

Elsewhere in American football