Top Contracts For 2015

Here are the 22 highest-salaried players for the 2015 NFL season:

1.   Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers: $22,000,000
2.   Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers: $21,850,000
3.   Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers: $20,800,000
4.   Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons: $20,750,000
5.   Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens: $20,100,000
6.   Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints: $20,000,000
7.   Ndamukong Suh, DT, Miami Dolphins: $19,000,000
8.   Colin Kaepernick, QB, San Francisco 49ers: $19,000,000
9.   Jay Cutler, QB, Chicago Bears: $18,000,000
10. Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys: $18,000,000
11. Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions: $17,666,667
12. Alex Smith, QB, Kansas City Chiefs: $17,000,000
13. Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos: $17,000,000
14. J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans: $16,667, 571
15. Carson Palmer, QB, Arizona Cardinals: $16,500,000
16. Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants: $16,250,000
17. Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions: $16,207,143
18. Mario Williams, DE, Buffalo Bills: $16,000,000
19. Andy Dalton, QB, Cincinnati Bengals: $16,000,000
20. Gerald McCoy, DT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $15,866,667
21. Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers: $15,300,000
22. Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, New York Giants: $14,813,000

It's really no surprise that 16 of the 22 highest-paid players this season, and nine of the top-10, are quarterbacks. It's a quarterback's world and the rest of the players are just living in it. Of those quarterbacks it's a little strange to see Peyton Manning at #13. It's even more strange to not see Tom Brady listed at all. The 4-time Super Bowl winning quarterback is scheduled to make a very team-friendly $7 million this season. That's an itty-bitty contract for arguably the best quarterback in the league. Of the six non-quarterbacks on the list all but one are defensive linemen. The player's tasked with destroying the highly-paid quarterbacks. Lions receiver Calvin Johnson is the only player among the highest-paid players that isn't paid to throw the football or kill the player that throws the football. He simply catches that football.

It doesn't feel right that the highest-paid defensive player is a player other than J.J. Watt. He's scheduled to make $2,332,429 less than Ndamukong Suh. Suh is a fine player but his salary for 2015 was inflated by his availability in this offseason's free agent market. Watt hits free agency and he probably sees a contract closer to Aaron Rodgers than Carson Palmer.

There's really no faulting football players for getting what they can when they can get it but at least half of the players on this list aren't among the top-22 players in the league. The going rate for a starting quarterback grossly inflates the contracts for some of those quarterbacks.