Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Adams among highest paid on new Forbes list
Two NFL quarterbacks rank among the top 10 on Forbes’ 2018 list of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes. Neither of them is Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Two quarterbacks are among the next 10 of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes. Neither of them is Rodgers.
And two quarterbacks are among the next 10 after that, and they aren’t Rodgers either.
In fact, Rodgers isn’t on the Forbes list. But Packers wide receiver Davante Adams is, at No. 77 with an estimated $24.5 million in annual income (thanks to an $18 million signing bonus on his new deal in December).
Rodgers is scheduled to make a base salary of $19.8 million this year and $20 million in 2019. He has per-game roster bonuses each year worth a maximum of $600,000 and workout bonuses of $500,000.
Which leaves him below Nicolas Batum of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, who was 100th at $22.9 million.
Forbes said its earnings figures include all prize money, salaries, bonuses and endorsement fees earned between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018. Football player salaries cover the 2017 base salary, plus bonuses earned over those 12 months, including option, signing, playoff and workout bonuses.
Endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and licensing income for the 12 months through June 1 based on conversations with dozens of industry insiders.
Topping the list is boxer Floyd Mayweather with income of $285 million. Rounding out the top five are soccer players Lionel Messi ($111 million) and Christiano Ronaldo ($108 million), mixed martial arts competitor Conor McGregor ($99 million) and soccer player Neymar ($90 million).
The top-paid quarterbacks are Matt Ryan (ninth at $67.3 million) of the Atlanta Falcons and Matthew Stafford (10th at $59.5 million) of the Detroit Lions.
Rodgers has two years left on his contract, but he and the Packers are expected to agree on an extension soon. When that happens, Rodgers figures to leap past 90 or so people on the Forbes list.
The Packers and Rodgers want the imminent extension to feature the largest per-year average in the NFL, given that Rodgers is considered one of the top quarterbacks.
Also of interest to Wisconsin sports fans, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who turned 23 in December, is the youngest player on the list by more than a year. His earnings of $35.5 million ranked him 30th.