Titans Derrick Henry joins list of highest paid NFL players at every position in 2022 by cash earnings
Titans Derrick Henry joins list of highest paid NFL players at every position in 2022 by cash earnings
Derrick Henry's bag just got a bit bigger.The Titans running back agreed to a restructured contract on Thursday that adds $2 million in new money for 2022 without any additional years. The bump in salary this season officially makes him the highest-paid player at his position league-wide.Before Henry and the Titans struck a new deal, the 28-year-old was set to make $12 million in cash during the 2022 NFL season. Now, he will be making Dallas Cowboys Men Jersey $14 million, .There are only three running backs set to make more than $10 million in 2022 with Henry joining Ezekiel Elliott ($12.4 million) and Alvin Kamara ($11.5 million).MORE:Of course, it's important to note that what Henry is being paid in 2022 is the cash value of his deal. Often, NFL teams, media and analysts live to use average annual value (AAV) to give a better picture of the contract's worth over time.Why is AAV the most common metric used? It's because it most accurately reflects the worth of a contract. NFL contracts are easy to manipulate, so teams often like to give hefty signing bonuses. This allows them to prorate a portion of the signing bonus over a multi-year span which lowers the cap hit of the player's contract in the early stages of the deal.That also can create cash vs. cap hit imbalances. Those tend to benefit the player who gets a large chunk of the money up front and the team, which can account for the player at a lower rate to add other a sets to the squad, so they are created frequently.Of course, this proce s also makes for some eye-popping cash value fees that are paid to a player in any given year. The $14 million given to Henry isn't that extreme of an example compared to the cash that some other players on big deals are raking in during the 2022 season.So, who are the highest-paid players of the 2022 season by their cash value only? Below is a position-by-position breakdown of that after Henry's new contract.MORE: QuarterbacksThanks to a $60 million signing bonus, Stafford takes home the honors of the NFL DeMarcus Ware Jersey 's top-paid player in 2022. His base salary with the Rams is just $1.5 million in both 2022 and 2023, before jumping to $31 million in 2024.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsMatthew StaffordRams$61,500,000Josh AllenBills$46,961,405Deshaun WatsonBrowns$45,367,500Aaron RodgersPackers$42,000,000Kirk CousinsVikings$40,000,000Running backsHenry takes the top spot among running backs from Ezekiel Elliott, but sits at just 108th league-wide acro s all positions.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsDerrick HenryTitans$14,000,000Ezekiel ElliottCowboys$12,400,000Alvin KamaraSaints$11,500,000Dalvin CookVikings$8,900,000Joe MixonBengals$8,700,000Wide receiversDK Metcalf barely edges out Cooper Kupp with cash earnings of $31.0 million. Like Stafford, almost all of his 2022 cash comes via signing bonus ($30.0 million). Metcalf will earn $1.0 million in base salary this season.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsDK MetcalfSeahawks$31,000,000Cooper KuppRams$30,000,000Terry McLaurinCommanders$29,479,000Mike WilliamsChargers$28,000,000Tyreek HillDolphins$26,635,000Tight endsMark Andrews is in the second year of a four-year, $56 million contract that includes $37.5 million in guaranteed money. One name mi sing in the table below? Travis Kelce. The Chiefs' top target will haul in $10.5 million in 2022, 8th among tight ends.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsMark AndrewsRavens$19,000,000David NjokuBrowns$12,500,000George Kittle49ers$11,961,754Mike GesickiDolphins$10,931,000Dalton SchultzCowboys$10,931,000Offensive linesTasked with protecting Kyler Murray's blindside important given the Cardinals just forked over $189 million in guaranteed money to their franchise quarterback Arizona left tackle D.J. Humphries comes in as the NFL's highest-paid offensive lineman in 2022.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsD.J. HumphriesCardinals$21,065,594Frank RagnowLions$20,751,529Ryan RamczykSaints$19,241,608David BakhtiariPackers$18,551,836Brian O'NeillVikings$18,000,000MORE: Defensive endsA rookie at the top spot? Such is the way this works in a world of lucrative signing bonuses. The stud rookie out of Michigan netted a whopping $23.2 million with his signing bonus.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsAidan HutchinsonLions$23,858,372Von MillerBills$19,970,000Leonard WilliamsGiants$19,000,000Myles GarrettBrowns$19,000,000Chandler JonesRaiders$17,412,000Defensive tacklesThe NFL's best defensive player is also the highest earner in 2022. Fresh off winning a Super Bowl, Donald inked a 3-year, $95 million dollar contract with the Rams.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsAaron DonaldRams$31,500,000Chris JonesChiefs$22,374,000Grady JarrettFalcons$17,970,000DeForest BucknerColts$16,000,000Kenny ClarkPackers$15,867,647LinebackersAnother position that includes edge rushers, Dallas Cowboys Kids Jersey another rookie. Walker is set to receive his $25 million in guarantees during his rookie season, so he will earn just over a million more than Watt, the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year. Meanwhile, Landry tore his ACL at Titans practice on the final day of August and it remains to be seen whether that will impact his earnings.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsTravon WalkerJaguars$25,065,088T.J. WattSteelers$24,000,000Joey BosaChargers$21,250,000Kayvon ThibodeauxGiants$20,677,028Harold LandryTitans$20,250,000CornerbacksTwo more top-five draft picks Stingley and Gardner are among the highest-paid players in the NFL for 2022. But the duo are behind Alexander, who just inked an extension with the Packers, Jackson who signed with the Chargers in free agency and Dallas Cowboys Jersey Lattimore, who restructured his deal with the Saints in March.For those wondering, Jalen Ramsey, who graded as Pro Football Focus' No. 1 cornerback in 2021, is making $15 million in cash this year. That's just the ninth-most in that category among corners.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsJaire AlexanderPackers$31,076,000J.C. JacksonChargers$28,000,000Marshon LattimoreSaints$24,103,000Derek Stingley Jr.Texans$23,090,464Ahmad GardnerJets$22,212,856SafetiesJames just signed the richest safety contract in NFL history, so it's no surprise to see him rank first among players at this position. Fitzpatrick, Simmons and Adams all inked recent extensions too while Williams signed with the Ravens in free agency this offseason.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsDerwin JamesChargers$24,584,000Minkah FitzpatrickSteelers$22,124,235Marcus WilliamsRavens$16,000,000Justin SimmonsBroncos$15,100,000Jamal AdamsSeahawks$14,440,000KickersThree kickers are tied for fourth in cash this year while Boswell Koo and Tucker are setting the pace at the position. Tucker remains the cream of the crop at kicker and the highest paid overall, but Boswell signed a big-time extension very recently. That's why he will make nearly $10 million in 2022.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsChris BoswellSteelers$9,861,180Younghoe KooFalcons$8,000,000Justin TuckerRavens$6,750,000Robbie Gould49ers$4,000,000Jake ElliottEagles$4,000,000Jason MyersSeahawks$4,000,000PuntersPunters remain the lowest earners in the NFL. Nobody loves special teams more than Bill Belichick, so it's no surprise to see Jake Bailey topping the punter cash-earning rankings for 2022.PlayerTeam2022 cash earningsJake BaileyPatriots$4,500,000Bryan AngerCowboys$3,800,000Johnny HekkerPanthers$3,120,000Michael DicksonSeahawks$3,083,059Cameron JohnstonTexans$2,500,000The numbers on these deals should give you a better idea of why NFL teams tend to use AAV as the preferred metricto evaluate a contract. Most yearly earnings are heavily impacted by signing bonuses, and the largest of those often belong to the players that signed the most recent extensions.That's why Stafford Troy Aikman Jersey is set to make so much during the 2022 NFL season; he signed a lucrative extension with the Rams during the offseason. Part of that was adding value to his current contract through a $60 million signing bonus which is the driving force behind his overall cash earnings of $61.5 million in 2022.The same is true for rookies. They sign fully guaranteed contracts when they enter the NFL which contain large signing bonuses. As such, Hutchinson is the top earner at the defensive end spot because he is being given what is, e sentially, the full value of his four-year rookie deal with the Lions up front.With that said, it's fun to look at the players with the highest cash earnings in any given season. However, it doesn't tell us much about their abilities; it mostly just reveals which players have signed the most recent, and most lucrative, extensions.