The top 10 highest-paid players all have two things in common: their bank accounts are fat, but their hands are ringless.
Shannon Sharpe, Chad Johnson and Joe Johnson broke it down on Nightcap and couldn’t believe it.
The top 10 highest-paid NFL players start with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. The face of America’s Team signed a four-year, $240 million contract in 2024, earning $60 million per year and claiming the top spot on the list.
Prescott is 2-3 in the postseason and has never reached the conference championship.
Right behind him are four players tied for second, each earning $55 million per year: Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills), Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals), Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers), and Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars).
Allen is 7-6 in the postseason with zero Super Bowl appearances and 0-2 in the AFC title game. Meanwhile, Burrow is one of only three guys on the list who has reached a Super Bowl.
He made it in his second year, losing to the Los Angeles Rams 23-20. His overall postseason record is 5-2, with the other loss being in the AFC title game the following year. Burrow has not made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
Love and Lawrence both have only one playoff win to their names.
Coming in behind those four, is Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) at $53.1 million. Tagovailoa is 0-1 in his postseason career.
Notice a trend?
Jared Goff (Detroit Lions) and Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers) are next at $53 million. There are a lot more wins on their postseason resumes than the majority of those on this list.
Both have made a Super Bowl, though they lost, while Goff is 5-5 in the playoffs and Purdy stands at 4-2.
Rounding out the list is Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers) at $52.5 million and Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens) at $52 million.
Both quarterbacks who excel in the regular season, but for one reason or another, fail to rise to the occasion in January.
While all the names that make up the highest-paid players in the NFL are some of the most talented in the entire league, one thing is clear.
Money does not win championships, or even guarantee playoff success.
For those wondering, Patrick Mahomes is tied for 14th with Kirk Cousins, at $45 million.
The Kansas City Chiefs star initially signed a 10-year, $450 million contract in 2020. He has since restructured it multiple times, to give the Chiefs cap flexibility, while also collecting certain annual escalating guarantees.
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Sharpe gave Mahomes credit for not taking as much as he could or is worth, in order to field a more competitive roster.
“He wants to try and keep a team together,” Sharpe said. “He realized he was winning at such an early age, if he wanted any chance to catch Tom [Brady], or be thought of in that conversation, he’s going to have to try to keep this thing together for as long as he can.
“And that’s what he’s been able to do. Plus, they go to him every year and basically give him his money in his signing bonus.”
Jalen Hurts is right outside the top 10, clocking in at 11 with $51 million.