Peyton Manning Made Over $248 Million in NFL, More Than Roger Goodell ... Until the End of This Year

Peyton Manning made over $248 million during his 18-year career, based on salary calculations at spotrac.com. That is salary only, and doesn’t include his ever-present endorsements and commercials.

Manning was the perfect storm of factors to reach such lofty career earnings. He was a quarterback, he was the first overall pick and entered at a time when top draft pick salaries were not cost-controlled, and he was really good for a very long time. For comparison, Tom Brady is at $163 million, and brother Eli is at the most among remaining players, at $179 million. (Eli was also a first overall pick who came in when those picks still got huge contracts immediately).

While Manning has been the face of the league for almost two decades, and has lapped the field in career earnings, there is one person who should pass him in compensation this year: Roger Goodell.

We don’t know Goodell’s recent compensation since the league got rid of its non-profit status and no longer have to disclose, but based on estimates, he should pass Manning. Goodell just finished his 10th year as league commissioner. According to this article, the owners had agreed to compensate him $300 million over 7 years, starting in 2012.

Using the numbers in the graph in this ESPN article, Goodell had made roughly $218 million as commissioner through 2015, and unless he got a paycut below $30 million over the last two years, he should pass the $250 million mark in total compensation as commissioner this year. His compensation shot up dramatically after the lockout, when he was able to negotiate major changes that saved millions in rookie contracts.