The 2019 NFL season is now underway after the Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.
In the days leading up to the new season's kickoff, two NFL players made headlines by signing massive new contracts. Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott ended his preseason holdout by agreeing to a new six-year contract worth $90 million ($50 million of which is guaranteed), while Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff landed a four-year, $134 million contract extension that includes an NFL record $110 million in guaranteed money.
While Goff's new deal is a record-setter (NFL contracts are famously not fully guaranteed, which means players can be cut before the end of a deal without receiving any non-guaranteed money) and it will pay him an average annual salary of $33.5 million, the deal still does not make the 24-year-old Rams quarterback the NFL's highest-paid player. That fiscal honor still belongs to Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, 30, who signed a four-year deal in April 2019 that pays him $35 million per season.
Meanwhile, Elliott's new deal makes him the NFL's highest-paid NFL running back ever, he's still not even the highest-paid player on his own team. That would be Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (more on that, below).
The NFL's mandatory salary cap for each team also hit a new record entering the 2019 season, with each of the league's 32 teams having $188.2 million to split among rosters of 53 players per team.
Here are the highest-paid players on each NFL team, according to Spotrac (in order of highest annual average salary to lowest):
Seattle Seahawks: quarterback Russell Wilson, 30
Average annual salary: $35 million
Total contract amount: $140 million over four years ($107 million guaranteed)
Pittsburgh Steelers: quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, 37
Average annual salary: $34 million
Total contract amount: $68 million over two years ($37.5 million guaranteed)
Green Bay Packers: quarterback Aaron Rodgers, 35
Average annual salary: $33.5 million
Total contract amount: $134 million over four years ($98.7 million guaranteed)
Los Angeles: Rams quarterback Jared Goff, 24
Average annual salary: $33.5 million
Total contract amount: $134 million over four years ($110 million guaranteed)
Philadelphia Eagles: quarterback Carson Wentz, 26
Average annual salary: $32 million
Total contract amount: $128 million over four years ($107.9 million guaranteed)
Atlanta Falcons: quarterback Matt Ryan, 34
Average annual salary: $30 million
Total contract amount: $150 million over five years ($100 million guaranteed)
Minnesota Vikings: quarterback Kirk Cousins, 31
Average annual salary: $28 million
Total contract amount: $84 million over three years (Cousins made history in 2018, becoming the first NFL quarterback to sign a multi-year, fully-guaranteed contract.)
San Francisco 49ers: quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, 27
Average annual salary: $27.5 million
Total contract amount: $137.5 million over five years ($74.1 million guaranteed)
Detroit Lions: quarterback Matthew Stafford, 31
Average annual salary: $27 million
Total contract amount: $135 million over five years ($92 million guaranteed)
Oakland Raiders: quarterback Derek Carr, 28
Average annual salary: $25 million
Total contract amount: $125 million over five years ($70.2 million guaranteed)
New Orleans Saints: quarterback Drew Brees, 40
Average annual salary: $25 million
Total contract amount: $50 million over two years ($27 million guaranteed)
Chicago Bears: outside linebacker Khalil Mack, 28
Average annual salary: $23.5 million
Total contract amount: $141 million over six years ($90 million guaranteed)
Washington Redskins: quarterback Alex Smith, 35
Average annual salary: $23.5 million
Total contract amount: $94 million over four years ($71 million guaranteed)
New England Patriots: quarterback Tom Brady, 42
Average annual salary: $23 million
Total contract amount: $23 million over one year ($20.25 million guaranteed)
Denver Broncos: quarterback Joe Flacco, 34
Average annual salary: $22.1 million
Total contract amount: $66.4 million over three years ($44 million guaranteed)
Jacksonville Jaguars: quarterback Nick Foles, 30
Average annual salary: $22 million
Total contract amount: $88 million over four years ($50.1 million guaranteed)
New York Giants: quarterback Eli Manning, 38
Average annual salary: $21 million
Total contract amount: $84 million over four years ($67 million guaranteed)
Dallas Cowboys: defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, 27
Average annual salary: $21 million
Total contract amount: $105 million over five years ($65 million guaranteed)
Los Angeles Chargers: quarterback Philip Rivers, 37
Average annual salary: $20.8 million
Total contract amount: $83.25 million over four years ($65 million guaranteed)
Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark, 26
Average annual salary: $20.8 million
Total contract amount: $104 million over five years ($62.3 million guaranteed)
Carolina Panthers: quarterback Cam Newton, 30
Average annual salary: $20.8 million
Total contract amount: $103.8 million over five years ($60 million guaranteed)
Cleveland Browns: wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., 26
Average annual salary: $18 million
Total contract amount: $90 million over five years ($65 million guaranteed)
New York Jets: inside linebacker C.J. Mosley, 27
Average annual salary: $17 million
Total contract amount: $85 million over five years ($51 million guaranteed)
Houston Texans: defensive end J.J. Watt, 30
Average annual salary: $16.7 million
Total contract amount: $100 million over six years ($51.88 million guaranteed)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: wide receiver Mike Evans, 26
Average annual salary: $16.5 million
Total contract amount: $82.5 million over five years ($55 million guaranteed)
26. Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Chandler Jones, 29
Average annual salary: $16.5 million
Total contract amount: $82.5 million over five years ($51 million guaranteed)
Cincinnati Bengals: defensive tackle Geno Atkins, 31
Average annual salary: $16.3 million
Total contract amount: $65.2 million over four years ($25 million guaranteed)
Tennessee Titans: offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, 28
Average annual salary: $16 million
Total contract amount: $80 million over five years ($50 million guaranteed)
Miami Dolphins: cornerback Xavien Howard, 26
Average annual salary: $15.1 million
Total contract amount: $75.3 million over five years ($39.3 million guaranteed)
Indianapolis Colts: quarterback Jacoby Brissett, 26
Average annual salary: $15 million
Total contract amount: $30 million over two years ($20 million guaranteed)
Baltimore Ravens: safety Earl Thomas, 30
Average annual salary: $13.8 million
Total contract amount: $55 million over four years ($32 million guaranteed)
Buffalo Bills: center Mitch Morse, 27
Average annual salary: $11.1 million
Total contract amount: $44.5 million over four years ($20.4 million guaranteed)
Don't Miss:
Why retired NFL star Rob Gronkowski never spent a dime of his NFL salary
Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!
