The nature of NFL contracts makes identifying the highest-paid NFL players in a given year more complicated than with their NBA and MLB brethren. Front-loading contracts is a necessity because the deals aren't fully guaranteed. This custom leads to more variance among the highest-paid football players on a year-to-year basis than in this country's other major team sports.
Salary deferrals are a staple of the most lucrative NFL contracts. Typically, when a player has a large signing bonus in his contract, he doesn't receive a portion of the money until the next calendar year.
Players deferring money has been a standard practice in the NFL for quite some time. The seven-year, $98 million contract Peyton Manning signed with the Colts in March 2004, which made him the NFL's highest paid player (by average salary), included a $34.5 million signing bonus; $18.5 million of the $34.5 million wasn't paid to Manning until the following March. Tom Brady didn't receive the final $5 million of the $30 million signing bonus in his 2013 contract renegotiation with the Patriots until February 2015.
The chart below contains notable salary deferrals of contracts signed in 2017.
Total signing bonus | Deferred amount | Payment date | |
$50,000,000 | $16,500,000 | 2/15/2018 | |
$20,258,004 | $8,008,004 | 1/5/2018 | |
$20,000,000 | $10,000,000 | 4/1/2018 | |
$20,000,000 | $6,000,000 | 4/2/2018 | |
$19,254,500 | $4,813,000 | 3/29/2018 | |
$19,000,000 | $2,900,000 | 3/31/2018 | |
Stephon Gilmore, Patriots | $18,000,000 | $6,000,000 | 3/31/2018 |
Large signing bonuses are broken into two to four installments rather than paid in a lump sum, regardless of whether all of the money is received in the same calendar year the deal was made. Stafford's signing bonus is indicative of the typical payment schedule, $17 million was payable a couple of weeks after he signed. He received $16.5 million on Nov. 15. The final $16.5 million is paid in February.
Below are the 15 highest-paid NFL players for 2017. The only money taken into consideration is from NFL player contracts and is before taxes (i.e.: gross income).
2017 salary: $34.5 million
Stafford re-set the NFL pay scale when the Lions signed him to a five-year, $135 million contract extension with a league record $92 million of overall guarantees during the preseason. His $50 million signing bonus is the largest ever for an NFL player. The $60.5 million fully guaranteed at signing is also an NFL record.
2017 salary: $27 million
Luck isn't playing a down this season because of an extremely slow recovery from offseason surgery on his right shoulder. The 2012 first overall pick signed a five-year, $122.97 million extension with the Colts in June 2016 to become the NFL's highest paid player. Luck's contract established new benchmarks in average yearly salary, overall contract guarantees, money fully guaranteed within 12 months of signing, three year cash flow and first three new years compensation, which have since been eclipsed. $14 million of his $32 million signing bonus wasn't payable until the end of this past March.
2017 salary: $25.2 million
Carr became the NFL's first $25 million per year player in June. His five-year, $125 million extension with $70.2 million in guarantees averages $25 million per year. The 2014 second-round pick was scheduled to make just over $1.15 million in 2017, the final year of his rookie contract, prior to signing the extension.
2017 salary: $24.9 million
The Panthers did Norman a favor as the 2016 NFL draft was approaching by rescinding the franchise player designation they had placed on him. The Redskins made Norman the NFL's highest paid cover man on an extremely front-loaded five-year, $75 million deal containing $50 million in guarantees a couple of days later. Nearly half of Norman's compensation is in the first two years, which includes the $8 million of his $15 million signing bonus paid at the beginning of this past May.
2017 salary: $24 million
Hopkins helped advance the ball for wide receivers by setting new standards for pass catchers with $49 million in overall guarantees and $36.5 million fully guaranteed at signing. His five-year, $81 million extension from the Texans with a $16.2 million average yearly salary is second only to Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown's $17 million.
2017 salary: $23.9 million
Cousins is the first quarterback in league history to play two straight seasons on franchise tags. His 2017 salary is a Collective Bargaining Agreement mandated 20 percent increase over last year's $19.95 million franchise tag. The Redskins designating Cousins as a franchise player in 2018 for a third and final time at $34,478,784 is a possibility despite the steep cost. Another way to prevent Cousins from becoming an unrestricted free agent in the offseason is designating him as a transition player instead for $28,732,320, which would only give the Redskins a right to match another team's offer sheet.
2017 salary: $23.7 million
Carolina is fortunate Newton signed a five-year, $103.8 million extension (with $60 million in guarantees) rather playing the 2015 season under the $14.7 million fifth year option of his rookie contract. After an MVP 2015 season in which Newton led the Panthers to the Super Bowl, an exclusive franchise tag for $25.9 million in 2016 would have been necessary without the extension already in place. The exclusive tag and career year probably would have given Newton leverage for a long-term deal averaging more than $25 million per year with over $75 million in guarantees. Of Newton's 2017 compensation, $10 million is bonus money earned in 2016 that was deferred until early April.
2017 salary: $22.5 million
Pierre-Paul returning to the form he displayed in 2014 before severely injuring his right hand during a 2015 Fourth of July fireworks accident paid off handsomely. A $16.9 million franchise tag in the offseason, the second such designation of Pierre-Paul's career, led to a four-year, $62 million deal (worth a maximum of $67 million through salary escalators) containing $40 million in guarantees. Pierre-Paul's $20 million signing bonus is being paid in two installments. He received $10 million a couple of weeks after signing, with the remainder coming to him on Dec. 13.
2017 salary: $22 million
The Super Bowl 50 MVP is the NFL's highest paid non-quarterback. The six-year, $114.5 million deal Miller signed in July 2016 as Denver's franchise player averages $19.1 million per year. Miller's $70 million in overall guarantees, which includes his $17 million signing bonus, established a new benchmark for non-quarterbacks and is still the fourth-most ever in an NFL contract. $5 million of Miller's bonus wasn't payable until eight-and-a-half months after signing.
2017 salary: $21.8 million
Wilkerson hasn't come close to living up to the five-year, $86 million deal he signed in July 2016, right before the deadline for franchise players to sign long-term. At $17.2 million per year, Wilkerson became the NFL's third-highest paid non-quarterback, which he remains for now. The Jets are expected to release Wilkerson in the offseason prior to the third day of 2018 league year on March 16, when his $16.75 million 2018 base salary currently guaranteed for injury is fully guaranteed. Wilkerson's 2017 compensation includes his $4.5 million 2016 roster bonus and $2.5 million of his $15 million signing bonus, both deferred to this past April 1.
2017 salary: $21 million
Flacco has signed two contracts during the last five years that have briefly made him the NFL's highest paid player. $15 million of Flacco's then-NFL record $40 million signing bonus from his three-year, $66.4 million 2016 extension wasn't paid until the middle of this past March.
2017 salary: $20.98 million
Perry capitalized on his 2016 breakout season of 11 sacks by signing a five-year, $60 million deal to stay in Green Bay. The only guaranteed money in Perry's deal is his $18.5 million signing bonus, which was paid in the two installments. The last one was in September. Green Bay deals are notoriously light on guarantees. If Perry had gotten the deal from practically any other team, his guarantees would be at least 50 percent more. Included in Perry's 2017 compensation is a $250,000 playtime incentive from his 2016 contract that was paid at the end of February. Perry has already lost $75,000 this season because he has $600,000 of game day active roster bonuses. He's out $37,500 for each additional game he doesn't suit up.
2017 salary: $20.2 million
There was speculation that Palmer was going to retire after the 2016 season despite signing a one-year extension worth $21 million a few months earlier. $4.5 million of the signing bonus from his August 2016 extension was deferred until March 31. It remains to be seen whether Palmer, who was put on injured reserve eight weeks into the season because of a broken left arm, hangs up his cleats with a year remaining on his contract.
2017 salary: $20 million
Short got the last big contract during Dave Gettleman's four-and-a-half year tenure as Panthers general manager before his firing in July. Given a $13.4 million franchise tag, Short signed a five-year, $80.5 million contract with $45 million of guarantees in April as the 2017 draft neared.
2017 salary: $19.98 million
Suh easily became the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback with the jaw dropping six-year, $114.375 million contract he signed as a free agent in 2015. Broncos linebacker Miller now has that honor. Suh's $59.955 million fully guaranteed at signing has been topped only by Stafford, his ex-teammate with the Lions. The five-time Pro Bowler was originally scheduled to make $10 million in 2017 before a 2016 contract restructure reduced his $28.6 million 2016 salary cap number to $12.6 million. In addition to converting $10 million of Suh's 2016 base salary into signing bonus, another $10 million was turned into two fully guaranteed 2017 roster bonuses payable this past April 15. The restructuring has given Suh the league's second-biggest 2018 cap number at $26.1 million.
