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NFL · 18 POSITIONS

NFL career earnings by position

$81,223,716 a career at quarterback, $7,963,453 at long snapper, across 1,917 careers.

A position's total is mostly a fact about how many men play it. The column that settles the argument is money per career, and on that basis the gap from the top of this page to the bottom is about 10.2 to one. Nine of the ten richest careers in the league are at quarterback, and the tenth is Trent Williams, a left tackle.

RICHEST POSITION $81.2m
PAID ACROSS ALL $44.13bn
POSITIONS 18
CAREERS 1,917
TOP TO BOTTOM 10.2x

What each position is worth, per career

Money paid, divided by the number of men who played it

Quarterback $81.2m

Quarterback $81m Left Tackle $34m Right Tackle $29m Defensive End $28m Defensive Tackle $27m Wide Receiver $24m Kicker $21m Guard $19m Outside Linebacker $19m Safety $18m Inside Linebacker $17m Tight End $17m Cornerback $17m Center $16m Running Back $13m Fullback $13m Punter $11m Long Snapper $8.0m

This is the ranking that answers what a position is worth. Quarterback clears the next one on the list by $47.4m a career, and no other gap on the chart is close to it: the rest of the order falls away smoothly from left tackle down to long snapper.

Every position ranked

Total earned, per career, and where the money comes from

18 positions

# Position Unit Careers Base salary Per career Total earned
01 Quarterback Matthew Stafford, $426.3m offence 83 43.1% $81.2m $6,741,568,417$6.74bn
02 Wide Receiver Davante Adams, $202.2m offence 212 51.3% $23.9m $5,056,622,059$5.06bn
03 Defensive End Von Miller, $224.9m defence 150 48.8% $28.4m $4,261,732,950$4.26bn
04 Defensive Tackle Chris Jones, $185.5m defence 139 55.7% $26.9m $3,738,373,697$3.74bn
05 Cornerback Jalen Ramsey, $164.4m defence 213 55.2% $16.7m $3,561,924,991$3.56bn
06 Outside Linebacker Khalil Mack, $169.5m defence 155 53.6% $18.9m $2,925,588,762$2.93bn
07 Safety Harrison Smith, $122.7m defence 156 58.1% $17.7m $2,764,476,820$2.76bn
08 Guard Quenton Nelson, $118.8m offence 130 56.9% $19.4m $2,520,027,068$2.52bn
09 Left Tackle Trent Williams, $251.4m offence 69 51.6% $33.9m $2,336,810,665$2.34bn
10 Right Tackle Lane Johnson, $178.9m offence 70 53.5% $28.8m $2,019,084,232$2.02bn
11 Inside Linebacker Roquan Smith, $108.6m defence 115 57.9% $17.3m $1,985,491,948$1.99bn
12 Tight End Travis Kelce, $111.2m offence 118 54.7% $16.8m $1,980,390,440$1.98bn
13 Running Back Christian McCaffrey, $109.7m offence 124 58.7% $13.0m $1,611,930,892$1.61bn
14 Center Frank Ragnow, $78.7m offence 71 62.1% $15.8m $1,120,769,967$1.12bn
15 Kicker Justin Tucker, $59.5m special teams 33 63.1% $21.2m $700,093,084$700.1m
16 Punter Thomas Morstead, $38.4m special teams 34 72.6% $11.3m $384,913,213$384.9m
17 Long Snapper J.J. Jansen, $16.5m special teams 32 88.9% $8.0m $254,830,499$254.8m
18 Fullback Kyle Juszczyk, $47.0m offence 13 69.9% $12.6m $164,172,973$164.2m

The base salary column is how much of a position's money arrives as the weekly paycheque rather than as something guaranteed in advance. It runs from 43.1% to 88.9% and it is a ranking of which positions clubs commit to years in advance. The signing bonus page is the same split from the other side.

The total each position has been paid

Every career at that position added together

Quarterback leads

Quarterback $6.74bn Wide Receiver $5.06bn Defensive End $4.26bn Defensive Tackle $3.74bn Cornerback $3.56bn Outside Linebacker $2.93bn Safety $2.76bn Guard $2.52bn Left Tackle $2.34bn Right Tackle $2.02bn Inside Linebacker $1.99bn Tight End $1.98bn Running Back $1.61bn Center $1.12bn Kicker $700m Punter $385m Long Snapper $255m Fullback $164m

Read against the chart at the top of the page, this one is mostly a headcount. A position with forty men on it outranks one with twelve whatever either is paid, which is why the per career column exists and why this chart is the second one rather than the first.

Frequently asked questions

Which NFL position earns the most money?

Quarterback, $81,223,716 a career across 83 of them. The next position on that basis is Left Tackle at $33,866,821.

Which NFL position earns the least?

Long Snapper, $7,963,453 a career, which is about 10.2 times less than a quarterback makes. Every position on this page has at least 10 careers behind it.

Why do quarterbacks earn so much more than everyone else?

One of them is on the field for every offensive snap and there is no rotation, so a club is buying a full season of the position from a single man. Every other position on the field is shared between two or three players and the money is shared with it.

Do offensive players earn more than defensive players?

Which position has been paid the most in total?

Quarterback, $6,741,568,417 across 83 careers. Total and per career are different rankings, and the second is the one that answers what a position is worth.

Where to next

Every position, and the rest of the NFL money

NFL career earnings · The all-time list · Money under contract · Base salary · Signing bonus · Bonus money · By franchise · By draft round

Every position

The fifty richest careers

By season

Elsewhere in American football