Joe Burrow, who missed majority of last season, made $15 million more than Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes

Despite Burrow’s short-lived season, he continues to rank three spots above Patrick Mahomes who came in at number 15 on the list. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback earned a total sum of $84.4 million with $59.4 million of it coming in the form of on-field earnings and the balance of $25 million coming from endorsements.

Joe Burrow is the highest-paid player in the NFL earning $55 million a year

It is shocking to see this because Patrick Mahomes went on to win the Super Bowl this year. However, that is how athlete contracts work. Burrow signed a massive $275 million deal for 5 years with the Bengals last year and as per the financials, he received $40 million as a signing bonus and $219 million of the deal is guaranteed. His contract is significantly bigger than that of Patrick Mahomes.

The Kansas City Chiefs locked Patrick Mahomes in for 10 years for a whopping sum of $450 million. At the time, the financials blew the minds off of fans because this was a rather unprecedented deal. The team was taking a huge gamble on Mahomes by locking him in for that long but so far, it has paid off well for them. The quarterback makes $52.5 million a year, just 3 million short of Joe Burrow’s annual salary.

In terms of endorsements and off-the-field earnings, Patrick Mahomes eclipses Burrow. The former made $25 million from his business deals whereas the latter made just $4 million from endorsements. Mahomes has been more outgoing as an entrepreneur, he has made multiple investments and has diversified into various avenues. In addition to this, owing to his popularity, he has brands lining up to sign him to represent their accessories.

Financially, it has been a good year for Joe Burrow but from a competitive standpoint, not really. Owing to his injury, the Bengals failed to make the playoffs and after a year in which the team went all the way to the Super Bowl, it was disappointing, to say the least. Heading into the 2024-25 season, Joe Burrow has the most pressure upon him to perform. To prove that he is not a one-hit wonder, Burrow has a Herculean task ahead of him. But given his talent and skillset, fans should remain assured that as long as he remains healthy, he will take care of business on the field.