Patrick Mahomes is the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL by active-contract average, earning $63,093,750 per year as of August 28, 2026. Dak Prescott ranks second at $60 million, while Matthew Stafford, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen share third at $55 million.
This leaderboard uses Spotrac’s contract-average calculation, not 2026 cash earnings, salary-cap hit or guaranteed money. That definition matters. Mahomes’ reworked deal averages $63,093,750 across its full current term, while its new money averages $64 million beginning in 2027. Both figures can be accurate, but they answer different contract questions.
Salary rank is also different from quarterback rank. For an evaluation based on current play, supporting cast and postseason value, see the best quarterbacks in the NFL today.
Table of Contents
How the Highest-Paid Quarterback Ranking Works
The list ranks active quarterback contracts by exact average annual value. AAV is the total value assigned to a contract divided by its length. Players with the same exact AAV share a competition rank, and the next rank is skipped.
The table follows one consistent data source because contract analysts can value restructures, option years and new money differently. Spotrac lists Mahomes at $63,093,750 based on the $504.75 million value of his current eight-year deal. Over The Cap values the same contract at $64 million per year based on new money. This article uses the Spotrac figure throughout so every quarterback is compared under the same method.
AAV should not be confused with what a quarterback receives in one season. A player can be traded, restructure his contract, collect money from a former team or have option years that change how another database describes the deal. Guaranteed money and cap charges also require separate comparisons.
Top 10 Highest-Paid Quarterbacks in the NFL
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: $63,093,750
Mahomes moved to the top when Kansas City reworked his contract in June 2026. The current agreement is worth $504.75 million over eight years, producing the $63,093,750 average used here.
The new money begins in 2027 and averages $64 million, which is why some salary lists display a different number. Under either method, Mahomes is ahead of Prescott and owns the position’s highest annual contract valuation.
2. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys: $60 Million
Prescott’s four-year, $240 million extension has the cleanest calculation near the top of the list: $60 million per season. He held the league lead until the Chiefs reworked Mahomes’ deal.
Prescott remains $5 million per year above the five-quarterback cluster at No. 3. That gap shows how aggressively Dallas paid to avoid another negotiation or a move into the open quarterback market.
3. Five Quarterbacks: $55 Million
Matthew Stafford, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen all average exactly $55 million. The matching figure hides five very different structures.
Love’s deal is worth $220 million over four years. Lawrence and Burrow each signed five-year, $275 million extensions, while Allen’s six-year extension totals $330 million. Stafford reaches the same AAV through a much shorter current agreement. AAV makes the yearly prices equal, but it does not make the length, guarantees or team flexibility equal.
The group also shows why contract timing can be more important than a talent ranking. Mahomes leads the best quarterbacks since 2020 discussion, but several younger passers reached the same $55 million market point through deals signed in different offseasons.
8. Jared Goff and Brock Purdy: $53 Million
Goff and Purdy share eighth at $53 million. Goff’s four-year extension is worth $212 million, while Purdy’s five-year deal totals $265 million.
The yearly price is identical, but San Francisco accepted one additional year of commitment. That difference disappears in a simple AAV column and is another reason not to treat salary rank as a complete contract evaluation.
10. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers: $52.5 Million
Herbert closes the top 10 with a five-year, $262.5 million extension. He sits only $500,000 behind Goff and Purdy, then Lamar Jackson follows at $52 million and Jalen Hurts at $51 million.
Those five deals create a tight band from eighth through 12th. Only $2 million separates Goff and Purdy from Hurts, despite different signing dates, terms and guarantee structures.
Quarterbacks Ranked 11 Through 32
Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts Complete the $50 Million Group
Jackson ranks 11th at $52 million, and Hurts is 12th at $51 million. They are the final quarterbacks above $50 million. The next deal drops to Deshaun Watson’s $46 million average.
There Are Two Major Mid-Market Cliffs
Watson ranks 13th at $46 million, followed by Daniel Jones at $44 million. Sam Darnold is next at $33.5 million, creating a $10.5 million fall between Nos. 14 and 15.
Baker Mayfield sits just behind Darnold at $33,333,333. The market then drops by more than $10.8 million to the $22.5 million tie between Aaron Rodgers and Malik Willis.
Aaron Rodgers and Malik Willis Share a Number, Not a Contract Type
Rodgers and Willis both average $22.5 million, but the similarity ends there. Rodgers signed a one-year agreement with Pittsburgh. Willis received a three-year, $67.5 million contract from Miami with $45 million fully guaranteed.
The tie is a clean example of AAV’s limitation. One figure can describe a short veteran commitment and a multi-year bet on a new starter without showing the difference in term or security.
Justin Fields Shows the Difference Between AAV and Current Cash
Fields ranks 19th at $20 million because Spotrac’s contract-average leaderboard carries the annual value of the two-year, $40 million deal he signed with the New York Jets. He was later traded to Kansas City, and his 2026 cash arrangement changed.
This article keeps the $20 million contract average to remain consistent with the source table. A ranking of 2026 cash paid by current teams would produce a different order.
Rookie Contracts Fill the Lower Half
Jacoby Brissett ranks 20th at $15.5 million. The next eight spots include Fernando Mendoza, Cameron Ward, Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson.
Mendoza leads that rookie-contract group at $14,317,650, followed by Ward at $12,209,905. The other six range from Williams at $9,871,515 to Richardson at $8,498,508. Their low placement is not a statement about ability. It reflects draft slot, rookie wage-scale timing and the absence of a veteran extension.
The Bottom Four Explain the Metric Better Than the Top Four
Marcus Mariota and Davis Mills share 29th at $7 million. Ty Simpson is 31st at $6,353,039, and Kirk Cousins closes the top 32 at $6,322,500.
Cousins is the clearest warning against reading AAV as annual cash. His Raiders agreement and remaining Atlanta obligations give him a much larger 2026 payday than the contract-average figure shown here. The leaderboard measures the average of the active contract recorded by Spotrac, not every dollar arriving from current and former teams during the season.
What the Quarterback Contracts Show
Twelve Quarterbacks Clear $50 Million
Mahomes through Hurts form the top salary tier. Prescott is the only quarterback at exactly $60 million, while five share $55 million and five more fall between $51 million and $53 million.
The Middle of the Market Is Almost Empty
Only four quarterbacks sit between $30 million and $50 million: Watson, Jones, Darnold and Mayfield. The next contract is $22.5 million. Teams are either paying established starters near the top of the market or using shorter, cheaper and rookie-scale structures.
Contract Definitions Can Change the Leaderboard
Mahomes is $63,093,750 by full-contract average and $64 million by new-money APY. Fields is $20 million by the average of his original two-year contract, even though his 2026 cash changed after a trade. Cousins is $6,322,500 by Spotrac’s current contract average despite collecting substantially more cash in 2026.
The most defensible method is not to mix those definitions from player to player. This leaderboard uses one source and one metric for all 32 rows, then explains where the raw number needs context.
Full Highest-Paid NFL Quarterbacks Ranking
| Rank | Quarterback | Team | AAV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | $63,093,750 |
| 2 | Dak Prescott | Dallas Cowboys | $60,000,000 |
| 3 | Matthew Stafford | Los Angeles Rams | $55,000,000 |
| 3 | Jordan Love | Green Bay Packers | $55,000,000 |
| 3 | Trevor Lawrence | Jacksonville Jaguars | $55,000,000 |
| 3 | Joe Burrow | Cincinnati Bengals | $55,000,000 |
| 3 | Josh Allen | Buffalo Bills | $55,000,000 |
| 8 | Jared Goff | Detroit Lions | $53,000,000 |
| 8 | Brock Purdy | San Francisco 49ers | $53,000,000 |
| 10 | Justin Herbert | Los Angeles Chargers | $52,500,000 |
| 11 | Lamar Jackson | Baltimore Ravens | $52,000,000 |
| 12 | Jalen Hurts | Philadelphia Eagles | $51,000,000 |
| 13 | Deshaun Watson | Cleveland Browns | $46,000,000 |
| 14 | Daniel Jones | Indianapolis Colts | $44,000,000 |
| 15 | Sam Darnold | Seattle Seahawks | $33,500,000 |
| 16 | Baker Mayfield | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | $33,333,333 |
| 17 | Aaron Rodgers | Pittsburgh Steelers | $22,500,000 |
| 17 | Malik Willis | Miami Dolphins | $22,500,000 |
| 19 | Justin Fields | Kansas City Chiefs | $20,000,000 |
| 20 | Jacoby Brissett | Arizona Cardinals | $15,500,000 |
| 21 | Fernando Mendoza | Las Vegas Raiders | $14,317,650 |
| 22 | Cameron Ward | Tennessee Titans | $12,209,905 |
| 23 | Caleb Williams | Chicago Bears | $9,871,515 |
| 24 | Bryce Young | Carolina Panthers | $9,488,768 |
| 25 | Jayden Daniels | Washington Commanders | $9,436,663 |
| 26 | Drake Maye | New England Patriots | $9,159,941 |
| 27 | C.J. Stroud | Houston Texans | $9,069,811 |
| 28 | Anthony Richardson | Indianapolis Colts | $8,498,508 |
| 29 | Marcus Mariota | Washington Commanders | $7,000,000 |
| 29 | Davis Mills | Houston Texans | $7,000,000 |
| 31 | Ty Simpson | Los Angeles Rams | $6,353,039 |
| 32 | Kirk Cousins | Las Vegas Raiders | $6,322,500 |
Scope: Active NFL quarterback contracts ranked by Spotrac contract average. This is not a ranking of 2026 cash earnings, cap hits, guaranteed money or quarterback ability. Exact AAV determines rank, and ties share competition rank. Contract and team information is current through August 28, 2026. The latest completed NFL season is 2025.
Last Reviewed: August 28, 2026.
Conclusion
Patrick Mahomes leads the NFL quarterback market at a $63,093,750 full-contract average, ahead of Dak Prescott at $60 million and five quarterbacks tied at $55 million. The larger lesson is that AAV is only useful when its definition stays consistent. New-money value, 2026 cash, guarantees and cap charges can each produce a different leaderboard.
Related Quarterback Rankings
- Best Quarterbacks in the NFL Today
- Best Quarterbacks in the NFL Since 2020
- Most Passing Yards Among Active NFL Players
- Best Quarterbacks of All-Time
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