{"id":656926,"date":"2026-05-08T22:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/656926\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T22:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:53:15","slug":"highest-paid-running-backs-in-the-nfl-full-breakdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/656926\/","title":{"rendered":"Highest-Paid Running Backs in the NFL: Full Breakdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Jets locked up their star running back on Friday, agreeing with Breece Hall on a contract extension, per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic<\/a>. <\/p>\n

After previously placing the franchise tag on Hall this offseason, the Jets have come to terms on a three-year, $45.75 million deal. The deal makes Hall the third-highest paid running back in the NFL based on annual salary. <\/p>\n

Hall posted on social media<\/a> after the contract was reported, \u201cShoutout everyone in my corner. Lot of work left to do. God Bless.\u201d He wrote in another post<\/a>, \u201cCried for the first time since I tore my ACL. This day really hit different for me man.\u201d <\/p>\n

As Hall celebrates his new deal, here\u2019s a look at the highest-paid running backs in the NFL. <\/p>\n

Who is the highest-paid running back in the NFL?<\/p>\n

The highest-paid running back in the NFL in Saquon Barkley, who signed a two-year, $41.2 million extension after becoming the ninth running back in league history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season<\/a> in 2025. Barkley is the first running back to top a salary of $20 million per year.<\/p>\n

The highest-paid running back in terms of guarantees and total contract value is rookie Jeremiyah Love. Due to the way rookie contracts work<\/a>, Love, the No. 3 pick, receives a four-year, fully <\/a>guaranteed <\/a>$53 million deal. Similarly, 2025 No. 6 pick and Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty ranks third in total guaranteed money among running backs. Among backs not on their rookie contracts, Barkley is first in guaranteed money with $36 million and Bills\u2019 James Cook is second with $30 million guaranteed. <\/p>\n

Top 10 highest-paid running backs<\/p>\n

Here are the 10 highest-paid running backs in the NFL, via Over the Cap<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Running back<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

Annual Salary<\/p>\n

Total Contract Value<\/p>\n

Saquon Barkley<\/p>\n

Eagles<\/p>\n

$20.6 million<\/p>\n

$41.2 million<\/p>\n

Christian McCaffrey<\/p>\n

49ers<\/p>\n

$19 million<\/p>\n

$38 million<\/p>\n

Breece Hall<\/p>\n

Jets<\/p>\n

$15.25 million<\/p>\n

$45.75 million<\/p>\n

Derrick Henry<\/p>\n

Ravens<\/p>\n

$15 million<\/p>\n

$30 million<\/p>\n

Kenneth Walker III <\/p>\n

Seahawks<\/p>\n

$14.35 million<\/p>\n

$43.05 million<\/p>\n

Jonathan Taylor<\/p>\n

Colts<\/p>\n

$14 million<\/p>\n

$42 million<\/p>\n

Jeremiyah Love<\/p>\n

Cardinals<\/p>\n

$13.256 million<\/p>\n

$53.02 million<\/p>\n

Alvin Kamara<\/p>\n

Saints<\/p>\n

$12.5 million<\/p>\n

$24.5 million<\/p>\n

Travis Etienne<\/p>\n

Saints<\/p>\n

$12 million<\/p>\n

$48 million<\/p>\n

Josh Jacobs<\/p>\n

Packers<\/p>\n

$12 million<\/p>\n

$48 million<\/p>\n

How running back salaries have changed over time<\/p>\n

Like all NFL positions, the salaries of running backs have increased greatly over time. They, however, have not increased as rapidly as the salaries for positions such as quarterback<\/a>, wide receiver<\/a> or edge rusher<\/a> have.<\/p>\n

Of course, every running back and player is making significantly more than the top rushers were back in the day. Jim Brown, arguably the greatest running back of all time<\/a>, reportedly was making a salary of $60,000+<\/a> when he retired from the Browns in the mid-1960s. Nearly three decades later in 1993, both Thurman Thomas<\/a> and Emmitt Smith signed<\/a> four-year extensions for $13.5-13.6 million, earning them a salary over $3 million. <\/p>\n

Two more decades later in 2011, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson signed <\/a>an astounding seven-year, $100 million contract with $36 million guaranteed. A seven-year contract is unlikely for any running back to receive in the present, but the average annual value of the deal\u2014$14.3 million\u2014is more than all but five running backs make today.<\/p>\n

Who could be the next highest-paid running back?<\/p>\n

Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs both have the potential to become the NFL\u2019s next highest-paid running back. Both Robinson and Gibbs became extension eligible this offseason, and have had their fifth-year options picked up.<\/a> They are two of the best young running backs in the league, with Robinson coming off his first All-Pro season and Gibbs earning his third consecutive Pro Bowl nod. <\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if either will top the $19 or $20.6 million that Christian McCaffrey and Barkley have topped the market with. They are both capable, but if they do not reset the market, they should certainly top the $15.25 million salary Hall has just received. <\/p>\n

How running back salaries compare to other positions<\/p>\n

The salaries of running backs are comparable to other non-premium positions such as linebackers, guards, safeties, though the top-paid backs are still making several million less than the highest-paid safeties and guards. <\/p>\n

Barkley makes three nearly times less in salary than the highest-paid quarterback<\/a>, Dak Prescott, who has a salary of $60 million per year. Outside of Barkley and McCaffrey, the other highest-paid running backs are making around three times less than the highest-paid edge rushers and receivers. <\/p>\n

More NFL from Sports Illustrated\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jets locked up their star running back on Friday, agreeing with Breece Hall on a contract extension,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-656926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656926","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=656926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}