Highest Paid U.S. Athletes Of This Year

January 13, 2023

Having athletic ability has shown to be quite a rewarding attribute. Young athletes dominate in the game and get attention and notoriety off the field. Holding the status as the star quarterback or point guard in high school is like being on top of the food chain. Even after high school, athletes have the chance to show off their skills and earn themselves fame and fortune by doing what they do best: playing sports. Not only do athletes get the publicity of celebrities, some even get paid like them. While being an athlete would be tough, it is safe to say most people would be willing to endure the hardships if they knew how much athletes were paid.Let's discuss a few of the highest paid United States athletes this year.

Matt Ryan: 52.5 Million

Matt Ryan, a football player who competes in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons, has officially earned the status of being the highest paid athlete in all of the United States. He is a rather large man standing 6'4" and weighing around 220 pounds. He has been the quarterback since the Falcons drafted him in 2008. The first year on the team, Ryan led his team to an impressive 11-5 record, starting all sixteen games behind center.

After high school, Matt played football for Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. During his career at Boston College, Ryan had fifteen 200+ yard games and was victorious in twenty-five of his thirty-two total starts. In 2016, Matt had one of his best seasons and earned the National Football League Most Valuable Player Award. The incredible amount of skill and competition in the NFL makes this award very difficult yet honorable to gain.Continue reading to learn who's next on this list.

Jimmy Garoppolo: 42.6 Million

His official name is James Richard Garoppolo, and he is the second highest athlete in the country. The twenty-six-year-old earns his insanely high salary by playing football in the NFL. Jimmy is the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

His athletic talent at the quarterback position became apparent during his high school years at Rolling Meadows High School in Illinois. He then went on to play football at Eastern Illinois where he broke Tony Romo's passing record. In 2014, Garoppollo was picked up by the New England Patriots in the second round of the draft. While on the team, he was the backup quarterback to Tom Brady who won the 2014 and 2017 Superbowls. After the 2017 season, Jimmy was traded to the 49ers, where he was victorious in the first five games he started. Garoppoplo will be the starting quarterback for the upcoming season.Learn who's next on the list on the following slides...

Alex Smith: 40 Million

Alexander Douglas Smith is the third-highest paid athlete in the United States. Currently, Alex is a quarterback in the National Football League. He plays for the Washington Redskins, although he has only been with them for a small portion of his career. Before making his switch to the Redskins in January 2018, Smith played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Being the first overall draft in 2005, people had very high expectations for him. While his first couple of seasons were plagued with injuries and inconsistent performance, he has done well during his time in the league. He played his final season with the 49ers in 2012 before being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. He won his first nine games as the starter of the Chiefs and eventually led his team to their first playoff win in over twenty years. After five seasons with the Chiefs, Smith was traded to the Washington Redskins and will begin his first season with them this upcoming fall.Curious about who's next? Continue reading for more information.

Stephen Curry

NBA basketball star Stephen Curry is not only one of the richest athletes in America, but in the entire world. His net worth: 90 million dollars! Since bringing the Golden State Warriors to some of their winningest seasons (winning three championships!), Curry’s salary just keeps increasing. At the end of the 2017 season, his salary was around $12.1 million but by the end of 2018, had risen to $34.7 million . It was quite a battle in the shoe world to get Curry as a spokesperson; Under Armor eventually wooed him after Nike reportedly failed to match their $4 million deal. Curry’s deal with the company was just extended to 2024 and gives him some equity within the company in addition to millions in payments. Because of that, experts say Curry’s deal with Under Armor is far more valuable than it appears at its face and that his value to the company could be in the BILLIONs. Curry also is partnered up with Degree antiperspirant, Brita water filters, Infiniti, and just signed a multi-year contract with JP Morgan Chase. Being that he is one of the most popular athletes on the planet, one can only expect that Curry’s star will keep on rising and that he’ll keep inking more endorsement deals.Let's see who's the next highest-paid US athlete...

Lebron James

Lebron James is widely considered the best basketball player on the planet right now. He has won three NBA championships since his debut in 2003. He is 33 years old with a net worth is $440 million today. Lebron declined his option with Cleveland Cavaliers and is now a free agent. He accepted a four-year, $154 million contracts with Angeles Lakers. A large piece of his fortune is from playing and the accompanying endorsements, but James also owns LRMR Sports Management which represents various athletes in different sports.Keep reading to learn more about the wealthiest US athletes...

Russel Westbrook: 35.3 Million

While all three of the highest paid athletes in the country are quarterbacks in the NFL, the fourth spot is held by Russel Westbrook, a basketball player. Westbrook competes in the National Basketball League (NBA) for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The twenty-nine-year-old point guard was born in Long Beach, California and played basketball at UCLA from 2006 to 2008. Westbrook has had great success during his time in the league and has earned a plethora of awards and honors. In the 2016-2017 season, Russel was the MVP of the league. He has also earned some distinguished awards, such as the NBA all-star seven times, two-time all-NBA first team, and two-time NBA scoring champion. He is one of two individuals in the history of the NBA to average a triple-double per game for a whole season. Along with this achievement, he also set an NBA new triple-double record with forty-two of them in one season.Let's see who's next on the list of highest paid US athletes...

Mike Trout: 33.2 Million

The fifth-highest paid athlete in the country is Mike Trout. Michael Trout was born in Vineland, New Jersey in 1991 and stands at 6'2". He is a professional baseball player and competes in Major League Baseball. In 2009, he was the first pick of the MLB draft and was selected by the Los Angeles Angels.

His swift skills have earned him the status as being one of the best baseball players in the world. He was the American League rookie of the year in 2012 and proved to be an excellent pickup for the Angels. In his following seasons, Trout continued to dominate and performed very well. As of July 22, 2018, Mike Trout has recorded almost 1,150 hits, 227 home runs, 621 RBI, over 180 stolen bases, and an overall 307 batting average. On the field, Trout performs well in many different ways. He is fast, making him a good fit for his center-field position. He is also very strong, which allows him to bat and throw with considerable strength.

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