Think the best players are the guys getting paid the most? Not always...while most of the salaries here make sense, there are definitely a few head-scratchers.
25. (tie) Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City WR: $8,750,000
25. (tie) Charles Johnson, Carolina DE: $8,750,000
24. Russell Okung, Seattle T: $8,760,000
23. Carson Palmer, Arizona QB: $9,000,000
22. Matt Ryan, Atlanta QB: $9,500,000
21. Jason Worilds, Pittsburgh LB: $9,754,000
17. (tie) Alex Mack, Cleveland C: $10,000,000
17. (tie) James Laurinaitis, St. Louis LB: $10,000,000
17. (tie) Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay WR: $10,000,000
17. (tie) Andre Johnson, Houston WR: $10,000,000
16. Drew Brees, New Orleans QB: $10,750,000
15. Joe Thomas, Cleveland T: $10,900,000
14. Percy Harvin, Seattle WR: $11,000,000
13. Brian Orakpo, Washington LB: $11,455,000*
12. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota RB: $11,750,000
11. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh QB: $12,100,000
10. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit DT: $12,550,000
9. Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay DT: $12,732,253
8. Greg Hardy, Carolina DE: $13,116,000*
7. Chris Long, St. Louis DE: $13,200,000
6. Philip Rivers, San Diego QB: $13,800,000
5. Sam Bradford, St. Louis QB: $14,015,000
3. (tie) Mike Wallace, Miami WR: $15,000,000
3. (tie) Peyton Manning, Denver QB: $15,000,000
2. Eli Manning, New York Giants QB: $15,150,000
1. Jay Cutler, Chicago QB: $17,500,000
* - Player has been Franchise Tagged
For any 49ers fans out there looking for Colin Kaepernick, his monster extension doesn't kick in until 2015. It'll pay him $12,400,000 that year (which would land him at #11 on this list), and gradually rises to a base salary of $21,000,000 in 2020.
Contract stats are current as of 8/1/14. The value listed is each player's base salary, which does not include incentives. Information from Spotrac.com was used in this article.
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