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Before the explosion of professional leagues, athletes weren't paid nearly as much as they are today. This was true for all sports, although each has its own founding story. In fact, the very first football player to receive pay for the game earned only $500. In just 50 years, the change between what a player makes and what the national median income is has exploded. In 1960, star players made around $50,000 a year, which was approximately 7.5 times what the average family brought in, whereas now it's closer to $50 million, or 666 times the amount the average American family sees. The growth of salaries greatly surpasses the rate of inflation at an almost 8 fold increase.
How It Started
The first paid football player made $500 a year.
It's difficult to find accurate record-keeping of how much NFL players made before the 1990s, but the salaries have been pretty well tracked since then. But when players first received a paycheck in 1892, it's believed that William Heffelfinger, a member of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame joined the Allegheny Athletic Association for just $500. This was during a time when the average worker made less than $.014 an hour, and the $500 paycheck still left him near the poverty line.
In 1915, Jim Thorpe played with the Canton Bulldogs for $250 a game. Five years later, he was president of the newly formed National Football League.
Growing Salaries and Valuable Positions
Many early professional football players excelled in many sports.
Over the next hundred-plus years, salaries continued to grow at a much larger rate. One of the highest-paid positions in the game is the quarterback. In 1965, Joe Namath came in as a rookie and signed a four-year, $427,000 contract that worked out to be $56,000 a year with the New York Jets. Teams were also paying sign-on bonuses, which often aren't figured into annual salaries.
As new leagues formed and created competition and groups merged together, salaries became more and more competitive, until it seemed like every year came with a new record-setting number.
Why the Quarterback?
The QB is often the highest-paid member of the team.
So, why are quarterback salaries so high? What makes them so much more important to a professional football team that management is willing to fork out hundreds of millions of dollars to keep them? As teams negotiate salary caps and fill their roster, quarterbacks hit the top of the list.
The QB often plays a leadership role on the team and is expected to create a team mentality. They lead the offense, control the ball often and are required to make crucial decisions in seconds. They're also more likely to get hurt because the entire job of the opposing team's defense is to stop them. So with names like Lamar Jackson, Pat Mahomes and Dak Prescott ringing in our ears, we'll discuss which QBs actually make the most money.
10. Kyler Murray
Kyler Murray was drafted in 2019.
- Team: Arizona Cardinals
- Salary: $46.1 million
9. Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts played for college football dynasties Oklahoma and Alabama before joining the NFL in 2020.
- Team: Philadelphia Eagles
- Salary: $51 million
8. Lamar Jackson
Jackson has been a successful quarterback for the Ravens since 2018.
- Team: Baltimore Ravens
- Salary: $52 million
7. Justin Herbert
After playing for the Oregon Ducks, Herbert was drafted in 2020 by the Chargers.
- Team: Los Angeles Chargers
- Salary: $52.5 million
6. Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes hopes to lead the KC Chiefs to their 3rd consecutive Super Bowl win this year.
- Team: Kansas City Chiefs
- Salary: $52.65 million
5. Jared Goff
Goff was drafted by the Rams before he landed as the starting QB for the Detroit Lions.
- Team: Detroit Lions
- Salary: $53 million
4. Tua Tagovailoa
Another Alabama alum, Tagovailoa joined the Dolphins in 2020.
- Team: Miami Dolphins
- Salary: $53.1 million
3. Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence was drafted by the Jaguars in 2021.
- Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
- Salary: $55 million
2. Joe Burrow
The Bengals drafted Burrow in 2020, right off his college championship game with LSU.
- Team: Cincinnati Bengals
- Salary: $55 million
1. Dak Prescott
The QB on our list with the most experience, Prescott was drafted in 2016.
- Team: Dallas Cowboys
- Salary: $65 million
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