Business is booming in the NFL, and the result was another sharp salary camp jump for the 2025 season.
The salary cap spiked from $255.4 million in 2024 to $279.2 million in 2025, so salaries for many of the league’s stars will continue to rise beyond already record levels.
Quarterbacks dominate the salary leaderboards in the NFL, to no surprise. Once you have a clear-cut solution at the position, you have to pay top dollar to keep him around. While 2025 figures to be a quieter year for quarterback extensions than 2024, Brock Purdy aside, most of the usual suspects continue to rank among the league’s highest-paid players.
Here’s a look at the 25 highest-paid players in the NFL for 2025.
NFL’s highest-paid players 2025
1. Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
Annual salary: $60 million
In the NFL, the highest-paid player is typically the most recent franchise quarterback to sign a new contract. Dak Prescott may not be among the league’s very best at the position, but the bill came due for the Cowboys ahead of the 2024 season, and Dallas hammered out an extension on the first Sunday of the NFL schedule.
Prescott will be looking to bounce back in 2025 after an injury cut what was already looking like an underwhelming season, but it’s easy to forget he was the MVP runner-up just a short while ago when he threw for 4,516 yards and 36 touchdowns in 2023.
T-2. Josh Allen, QB, Bills
Annual salary: $55 million
Allen signed a six-year, $330 million contract with the Bills the day before free agency started in 2025. It is not an extension. Allen had four years left on his old deal and those are wiped out. The quarterback now is under contract with for six seasons and got a hefty pay raise.
Allen has led the Bills to five straight AFC East titles. He won the first MVP Award of his career in 2025, edging out Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. It looked like Buffalo has signed Allen to his extension at the right time, as with contracts soaring, he actually looked like a steal. The Bills made sure their star had a competitive salary at his position and gives him the most guaranteed money of all time.
This deal not only shows the confidence in Allen, who is now under contract through 2030, but also puts pressure on the Bills to win a Super Bowl while he is in his prime.
T-2. Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals
Annual salary: $55 million
Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million extension with the Bengals days before the start of their 2023 season, and he still ranks among the highest-paid players in the NFL.
Despite missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, Burrow has played like a $55 million quarterback. The 2019 Heisman Trophy winner was dominant in 2024, completing 70.6 percent of passes for 4,918 yards, 43 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while leading the Bengals to wins in each of their last five games.
Cincinnati hopes to turn Burrow’s dominance into Super Bowl contention in 2025 and beyond, but the franchise has its face of the franchise locked down long-term.
T-2. Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars
Annual salary: $55 million
Lawrence signed a five-year, $275 million extension with the Jaguars in June 2024, running all the way through 2030, but he didn’t play up to expectations in 2024. Lawrence was just 2-8 as a starter, completing 60.6 percent of passes for 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions in an ugly season for the Jaguars.
Jacksonville is hoping Lawrence can enjoy a resurgence under first-year head coach Liam Coen, but with a career 22-38 record, the former No. 1 pick has a long way to go to justify his massive contract.
T-2. Jordan Love, QB, Packers
Annual salary: $55 million
Love one-upped Tua Tagovailoa with a four-year, $220 million extension in July 2024, agreeing to the deal just hours after the Dolphins quarterback inked his new contract.
Love went 9-6 as a starter in 2024, throwing for 3,389 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while leading the Packers to the playoffs but falling to the eventual-champion Eagles in the wild-card round. Love is under contract through 2028.
6. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Dolphins
Annual salary: $53.1 million
Tagovailoa agreed to a four-year, $212.4 million extension with the Dolphins at the start of training camp in 2024, making him one of the NFL’s highest-paid players.
The deal came with multiple risks, as concussion issues already made Tagovailoa’s future a long-term question, and his ability to win in cold weather was also a concern. Neither question has been answered — Tagovailoa missed a month with a concussion in 2024, and he couldn’t win a key cold-weather game in Green Bay — but the Dolphins’ offense was much more functional when he was on the field.
