Salaries around the NFL continue to rise year after year, and the boom has no end in sight. As the league continues to be the most powerful entity in North American sports, the money has continued to flow, which has allowed for yet another spike in the salary cap.
The 4 NFL Players With Cap Hits Of $50 Million+ For 2024
Deshaun Watson’s $63.9M cap hit is now only 25% of the 2024 league salary cap.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) February 23, 2024
Because teams will be able to spend more, we are going to see the contracts get bigger and bigger with each passing off-season. But even some of the deals that are already locked in have eye-popping numbers as far as what the players will take home in 2024, including four quarterbacks who will have cap hits of over $50 million for the coming season.
1. Deshaun Watson – Cleveland Browns
Cap hit: $63.9 million
Unless Watson sees a serious turnaround from the 12 games that he has started in his first two seasons in Cleveland, this will be one of the worst contracts in the NFL in 2024. The Browns doled out the most guaranteed money ever in order to acquire the embattled quarterback a couple of off-seasons ago, and he has certainly failed to live up to the $46 million per year price tag thus far. His cap hit will go from $19 million last year to just shy of $64 million, easily the highest in the league.
2. Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys
Cap hit: $59.4 million
Prescott will have the second-highest cap hit in 2024, and the Cowboys are hoping for better performances than what he and the team have shown in the late going in recent seasons. He is entering the final year of the 4-year, $160 million deal that he signed before the 2020 campaign, and the cap hit balloons from $26.8 million in 2023 to what it is today. If the team comes to terms on an extension in the coming months, it would certainly help save money for 2024 by lowering the money owed for the coming season.
️ Micah Parsons goes off on the Dak Prescott media hate:
“Besides Patrick Mahomes, what other quarterback in the AFC has accomplished anything to get more credit than Dak”
(Via: @stephenasmith) pic.twitter.com/SBHHZ2sEnn
— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) February 19, 2024
3. Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs
Cap hit: $58.6 million
Mahomes is the only player getting paid north of $50 million that undoubtedly deserves every penny. He and the Chiefs solidified themselves as an NFL dynasty with their Super Bowl victory in February, and much of the team’s underdog postseason run happened thanks to the quarterback’s ability to lead his team to success. Mahomes is entering the third of a ten-year deal worth nearly half a billion dollars.
4. Kyler Murray – Arizona Cardinals
Cap hit: $51.8 million
Along with Watson, Kyler Murray has plenty to prove during the 2024 NFL season. His cap hit rises more than $35 million this year, and his play will certainly need to elevate if he wants to live up to the money that he is owed. It won’t be until next off-season when the Cardinals will be able to save money by parting ways, so we could possibly see a restructure at some point in the coming months.