{"id":580988,"date":"2026-04-04T04:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T04:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580988\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T04:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T04:21:08","slug":"highest-paid-edge-rushers-in-the-nfl-full-breakdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580988\/","title":{"rendered":"Highest-Paid Edge Rushers in the NFL: Full Breakdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker became the latest edge rusher to receive a new contract this offseason as he agreed to a four-year, $110 extension<\/a> on Friday. <\/p>\n

The extension puts Walker outside of the top-10 highest-paid edge rushers. Walker is one of several edge rushers to sign a new contract this offseason, after Trey Hendrickson, Jaelan Phillips and Odafe Oweh signed massive deals with new teams in free agency. <\/p>\n

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These deals, however, rank well below the top-five highest-paid players at the position, who are all making at least $40 million a year. Below is a look at the highest-paid edge rushers in the league and what they are making in 2026.<\/p>\n

Who is the highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL?<\/p>\n

The highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL is Micah Parsons, who makes $46.5 million per year. After the Cowboys traded Parsons to the Packers, they then signed him to a record-breaking four-year, $186 million extension. <\/p>\n

The Packers made Parsons the highest-paid edge rusher by over $5 million annually when they extended him. Only Aidan Hutchinson, the second-highest paid edge rusher, has come close to approaching his salary. <\/p>\n

Top 15 highest-paid edge rushers in the NFL\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are the 15 highest-paid edge rushers in the NFL, via Over the Cap.<\/a><\/p>\n

Player<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

Annual Salary<\/p>\n

Total Contract Value<\/p>\n

Micah Parsons<\/p>\n

Packers<\/p>\n

$46.5 million<\/p>\n

$186 million<\/p>\n

Aidan Hutchinson<\/p>\n

Lions<\/p>\n

$45 million<\/p>\n

$180 million<\/p>\n

T.J. Watt<\/p>\n

Steelers<\/p>\n

$41 million<\/p>\n

$123 million<\/p>\n

Danielle Hunter<\/p>\n

Texans<\/p>\n

$40.1 million<\/p>\n

$40.1 million<\/p>\n

Myles Garrett<\/p>\n

Browns<\/p>\n

$40 million<\/p>\n

$160 million<\/p>\n

Maxx Crosby<\/p>\n

Raiders<\/p>\n

$35.5 million<\/p>\n

$106.5 million<\/p>\n

Nick Bosa<\/p>\n

49ers<\/p>\n

$34 million<\/p>\n

$170 million<\/p>\n

Jaelan Phillips<\/p>\n

Panthers<\/p>\n

$30 million<\/p>\n

$120 million<\/p>\n

Josh Hines-Allen<\/p>\n

Jaguars<\/p>\n

$28.25 million<\/p>\n

$141.25 million<\/p>\n

Brian Burns<\/p>\n

Giants<\/p>\n

$28.2 million<\/p>\n

$141 million<\/p>\n

Trey Hendrickson<\/p>\n

Ravens<\/p>\n

$28 million<\/p>\n

$112 million<\/p>\n

Travon Walker<\/p>\n

Jaguars<\/p>\n

$27.5 million<\/p>\n

$110 million<\/p>\n

Nik Bonitto<\/p>\n

Broncos<\/p>\n

$26.5 million<\/p>\n

$106 million<\/p>\n

Montez Sweat<\/p>\n

Bears<\/p>\n

$24.5 million<\/p>\n

$98 million<\/p>\n

Odafe Oweh<\/p>\n

Commanders<\/p>\n

$24 million<\/p>\n

$96 million<\/p>\n

How edge rusher salaries have changed over time<\/p>\n

In 1984, Mark Gastineau became the highest-paid defensive lineman in NFL history when he signed a five-year deal worth $4 million<\/a>. Sacks became an official statistic in 1982, and Gastineau was the leader of the \u201cNew York Sack Exchange,\u201d notching 41 combined sacks in 1983 and 1984. <\/p>\n

Nearly a decade later, Reggie White became the highest-paid pass rusher and third-highest paid player in the league when he signed a four-year, $17 million deal with the Packers, the first major free agency signing in league history. By 2014, J.J. Watt became the highest-paid player at the position on a six-year, $100 million deal.<\/p>\n

The edge rusher market was completely reset again last offseason. For nearly two years, Nick Bosa was the highest-paid edge rusher at an annual salary of $34 million. Maxx Crosby topped him by $1.5 million annually early in the 2025 offseason before the Browns transformed the market by re-signing Myles Garrett to a record-breaking deal worth $40 million per year. Several players have already topped that mark, and now, the highest-paid edge rushers are set to make over a $40 million salary. <\/p>\n

Who could be the next highest-paid edge rusher?<\/p>\n

Texans star defensive end Will Anderson Jr. has a great chance at becoming the next highest-paid edge rusher. Anderson Jr. is in line to receive an extension this offseason, and is coming off a stellar 2025 campaign which saw him earn first-team All-Pro honors and finish second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. Anderson Jr. is a captain on the best defense in the league, and deserving of a top contract at his position. <\/p>\n

Even if Anderson doesn\u2019t become the highest-paid edge rusher, he undoubtedly will top $40 million per year and at least approach Parsons\u2019s salary. <\/p>\n

How edge rusher salaries compare to other positions<\/p>\n

Edge rushers are the second-highest paid players in the NFL, only trailing quarterbacks<\/a>, who typically make about $10 million more than the highest-paid edge rushers. The highest-paid edge rushers make a similar amount to the highest-paid receivers<\/a> in the league, though Parsons and Hutchinson each make more than Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the top-paid wideout. <\/p>\n

Outside of receiver, the top edge rushers make around twice as much as the highest-paid linebackers, safeties and running backs and around $10-$15 million more than the highest-paid cornerbacks<\/a> and defensive tackles. <\/p>\n

More NFL from Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker became the latest edge rusher to receive a new contract this offseason as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-580988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}