The best NFL teams spend wisely and manage their salary cap. We can see evidence of that in this year’s Super Bowl.
Combined, the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons have just four players ranked among the 50 highest-paid players in the NFL. If we go a step further, the Falcons don’t have any players ranked in the top 30 and the Patriots’ only player among the top 50 is Tom Brady, who is ranked fifth overall.
Here are the ten highest-paid players in Super Bowl LI based on total earnings this season, according to data obtained from Spotrac.
10. Keanu Neal — $ 6.5 million
Team: Atlanta Falcons
Position: Safety
2016 earnings breakdown: $ 450,000, $ 6.0 million signing bonus
One thing to know: Neal was the 17th pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He is in the first season of a four-year, $ 10.7 million contract and ranked 32nd among all safeties, according to the grades of ProFootballFocus.
9. Dont’a Hightower — $ 7.8 million
Team: New England Patriots
Position: Linebacker
2016 earnings breakdown: $ 7.8 million salary
One thing to know: Hightower is in the final year of the rookie contract he signed after being selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, the four-year, $ 50 million contract recently signed by Jamie Collins is the “baseline” for the contract Hightower will be seeking this offseason.
8. Mohamed Sanu — $ 8.0 million
Team: Atlanta Falcons
Position: Wide receiver
2016 earnings breakdown: $ 1.0 million salary, $ 8.0 million signing bonus
One thing to know: Sanu is in the first season of the five-year. $ 32.5 million contract he signed last spring after spending four seasons with the Bengals. He had a career-high 59 receptions and was the 19th-best wide receiver, according to the PFF grades.
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