Quarterback is the most critical position in sports, and NFL signal-callers are paid handsomely for their performance.
As the league’s salary cap continues to increase, QB salaries have skyrocketed, with average annual value (AAV), total value, and guaranteed money on the rise.
Who is the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, and who else makes up the top 10?
Who Is the Highest-Paid Quarterback in the NFL?
After working out an extension with the Cincinnati Bengals in Sept. 2023, Joe Burrow became the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. He signed a five-year, $275 million contract that averages $55 million per season, blowing past the previous high-water mark of $52.5 million annually.
Burrow received $219.01 million in total guarantees, the second most in NFL history behind Deshaun Watson’s $230 million.
While the Bengals typically refuse to give out guaranteed money beyond the first year of a contract, they had to change their stripes — no pun intended — on Burrow’s new deal. He received $146.5 million fully guaranteed at signing, including his $40 million signing bonus and base salaries plus option bonuses in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, had been under contract through 2024 after the Bengals exercised his fifth-year option. His extension will keep him in Cincinnati through 2029.
Highest-Paid Quarterbacks 2-10
2) Jared Goff, Detroit Lions | AAV: $53 million
Jared Goff became the fifth member of the NFL’s $50 million club when he agreed to a four-year, $212 million extension with the Detroit Lions. The deal, which reportedly features $170 million in guaranteed money, will keep Goff in the Motor City through the 2027 season and contains an option for the 2028 campaign.
Goff was viewed as a salary dump when the Los Angeles Rams traded him — plus multiple first-round picks — to the Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford in 2021. However, Goff resurrected his career in Detroit, guiding the Lions to 12 wins and a playoff victory in 2023.
3) Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers | AAV: $52.5 million
Justin Herbert was the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback for roughly six weeks until being usurped by Burrow. He inked a five-year, $262.5 million deal, setting a $52.5 million average that Burrow’s team used in negotiations with the Bengals.
Herbert’s new contract contains $133.7 million fully guaranteed and an injury guarantee of $193.7 million. His guarantees include his base salaries from 2023-25 and option bonuses in 2024 and 2025.
Herbert has option bonuses in each season of his deal until its conclusion in 2029. His cap charge will stay below $20 million next season before ballooning to $37 million and counting in 2025.
4) Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens | AAV: $52 million
The Baltimore Ravens initially deployed the franchise tag on Lamar Jackson to retain him last offseason, but they ultimately agreed to a long-term pact with their former MVP quarterback. Jackson received a five-year, $260 million contract, making him the league’s highest-paid signal-caller for several months.
Jackson’s accord came with a $185 million total guarantee and a $135 million injury guarantee. His 2024 salary, 2024 roster bonus, and 2024 and 2025 option bonuses are fully guaranteed for injury.
Jackson will collect $51.25 million base salaries in 2026 and 2027, when his cap charges will reach nearly $75 million. However, his contract is essentially designed to be restructured and give the Ravens cap relief at a later date.
5) Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles | AAV: $51 million
Jalen Hurts had the mantle as the highest-paid QB for a brief time after agreeing to a five-year, $255 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles in April 2023.
In addition to his $51 million average annual salary, Hurts received $179.304 million in guarantees and a no-trade clause. He’ll get $110 fully guaranteed and $126.5 million before Year 2 of the deal, while he can earn another $15 million via incentives. Hurts is under contract through 2028.
The Eagles used a triple-option bonus structure with Hurts’ deal to keep his cap charges low for now. But like Lamar’s contract, Hurts’ extension is intended to be reworked in the future.
6) Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals | AAV: $46.1 million
Kyler Murray signed a five-year contract extension worth $230.5 million with the Arizona Cardinals during the 2022 offseason. Murray’s contract contained $103.3 million fully guaranteed at signing and $189.5 million in total guarantees.
While Murray’s cap charge was just $16 million in 2023, his salary cap figure will jump to $51+ million in 2024. Meanwhile, his 2025 salary and roster bonus (total price: $29.9 million) became guaranteed in March 2024.
7) Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns | AAV: $46 million
Deshaun Watson’s contract completely altered the quarterback market. In order to convince Watson to waive his no-trade clause and choose them as his next destination, the Cleveland Browns gave Watson guaranteed all $230 million of his deal.
No other quarterback has come close to matching Watson’s full guarantee, and his contract became divisive, especially among rival NFL owners hoping to sign their own quarterbacks to new deals. Subsequent QB extensions have followed traditional structures instead of using Watson’s fully guaranteed pact as a model.
Cleveland converted $45 million of Watson’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus before last season, adding a void year in 2027 and spreading his prorated money over the next five seasons.
8) Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons | AAV: $45 million
One of the best businessmen in NFL history, Kirk Cousins left the Minnesota Vikings to sign a four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons in March 2024.
Cousins received $90 million guaranteed at signing: signing bonus ($50 million), 2024 salary ($12.5 million), and 2025 base salary ($27.5 million). His 2026 roster bonus ($10 million) is already guaranteed for injury and will become fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2025 league year.
Atlanta used the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on QB Michael Penix Jr., inviting speculation about Cousins’ long-term fit on the roster. Cousins has a full no-trade clause. The Falcons probably can’t release him until after the 2025 season, when they’d save $32.5 million in cap space with a straight release or $45 million with a post-June 1 cut.
9) Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs | AAV: $45 million
Patrick Mahomes’ 10-year contract extension highlights the myriad ways to value NFL contracts. If we ranked these deals by total value, Mahomes would be — by far — the highest-paid QB in the league, with a total value in excess of $450 million.
The length and structure of Mahomes’ contract differ from anything previously seen in the NFL. Mahomes’ contract contains rolling guarantees that make it nearly impossible for the Kansas City Chiefs to cut him in the future without taking on massive amounts of dead money.
But the deal is also team-friendly in other ways. Kansas City gained cost certainty and locked in an AAV that’s already falling below the rest of the QB market. And Mahomes’ cash flows — just $116 million through the first three years — trailed most other significant quarterback contracts.
The Chiefs gave Mahomes a revised contract in Sept. 2023 that moved money into the near term. The reworked deal essentially allowed Mahomes to collect $48 million annually from 2023-26, added two void years, and tweaked the two-time MVP’s incentive structure.
10) Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills | AAV: $43 million
The fact that Josh Allen’s contract — with an AAV of $43 million — is ninth on this list indicates how the QB landscape has changed in the past few years. When Allen signed this deal in 2021, he was the NFL’s second-highest-paid QB.
Allen’s six-year contract is worth $258.034 million, with $100.039 million fully guaranteed at signing and $150 million in total guarantees.
The Buffalo Bills restructured Allen’s deal for the first time in 2023, converting $26.42 million of his base salary into a signing bonus. They did it again in 2024, saving over $16 million in cap space. Allen’s cap hit will be $30.4 million this season before ballooning to $60+ million in 2025.