Nicely Compensated Football Players

Sports Illustrated recently listed the 50 most highly compensated athletes. The compensation includes both salary and endorsements. The list was topped by boxer Floyd Mayweather and dominated by basbeall players. Only seven football players made the list. The top two were no surprise. Another was expected. Another three may surprise. The seventh was simply shocking.

#3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints QB
-$40,000,000 in salary
-$7,800,000 in endorsements

Quarterbacks are expected to top any list of nicely compensated football players and Brees is one of the very best at the position. His presence at #3 is made by signing a new contract last year. $37 million of the 40 was his signing bonus. So, his pay for the 2012 season was a meager $3,000,000. Poor guy. Brees is starting to make a nice income as a pitchman. Dove, Vick's Vaporub, Chase, Verizon, Tide and Wrangler all cough up dough to Brees. I've seen him in Pepsi commercials but that giant wasn't listed by SI.

#8. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos QB
-$18,000,000 in salary
-$13,000,000 in endorsements

It's still weird to see or hear Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos quarterback. Nice salary. Rich endorsements. Manning has become the standard for pitchmen from the athletic world. Actually, Manning is one of the best pitchmen from any field. Reebok, Wheaties, Directv, Gatorade, Papa John's, and Buick take advantage of his charisma. Fantastic quarterback. Terrific seller of things. Rich man.

#15. Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR
-$25,160,000 in salary
-$200,000 in endorsements

I knew that Jackson was going to get a nice free agent contract last year. I never would have guessed that a 30-year old receiver would get the contract that Jackson got from the Buccaneers. He certainly was a playmaker last year. How much longer can he be that kind of deep threat? Jackson has a nice "little" endorsement deal with Denny's.

#21. Carl Nicks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers G
-$24,285,000 in salary
$0 in endorsement

A guard!!!!??? Brees, and in particular Jackson and Nicks are on this list because of the gigantic signing bonuses that they received with new contracts. Jackson and Nicks were the beneficiaries of a Buccaneers team that had a ton of salary cap space due to a fairly complete purging of their roster. The team could splurge and they did. Nicks is a great guard, maybe the best in the league. It's just incredible that only four football players were paid more than him last year. It's unfortunate that offensive linemen rarely get endorsements. They wouldn't be expensive. You'd think that fast food franchises would be all over them to prop up their hamburgers and fries.

#27. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans QB
-$22,450,000 in salary
-$330,000 in endorsements

While it may be a surprise that Schaub earned more than Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and some others, he's a very good quarterback. He's the leader of an explosive offense. And, he's a quarterback. Quarterbacks are highly compensated. The Texans are a talented team. If they can get to the Super Bowl, Schaub could be in line for some real nice national endorsements. For now, he has Houston's Methodist Hospital, Nike and Verizon.

#29. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions WR
-$21,750,000 in salary
-$850,000 in endorsements

Johnson is the best receiver in the game right now. The only thing surprising about his compensation is that it's greater than his quarterback, Matthew Stafford. That will change soon. I think that his endorsement kitty will grow as he becomes more comfortable in front of the camera. He's on the league's real bright starts and he's in the prime of his career. He was on the Madden cover last year. After his fantastic 2012 season, I hope that Johnson finally put an end to that stupid "Madden Curse." Johnson pitches for Acura, Nike, and something called Eastbay.

#48. Eli Manning, New York Giants QB
-$11,500,000 in salary
-$7,000,000 in endorsements

Of the seven football players on this Top 50 list, the Manning brothers have the tiniest salaries. The younger Manning will likely get one of the top salaries in the league real soon. He doesn't show the same comfort in front of the camera as his brother but he's better than most athletes at pushing stuff. Reebok, Toyota, Kraft, Samsung, Directv, and Dunkin' Donuts pay him well.

Despite being, by far, America's top sport, the best compensated football players still make far less per year than the best compensated players in baseball and basketball. Half of the 50 players on SI's list came form baseball. 13 came from basketball. The football presence on this list is due mostly to the one-time signing bonuses that the lucky few can get. While some football players (quarterbacks) are truly reaching and even passing the $20,000,000/year landmark, the average yearly salary of football players is always going to lag behind the less violent sports.