Saquon Barkley Named To Forbes List Of 100 Highest-Paid Athletes In 2019
Forbes released its annual list of the 100 highest-paid athletes in sports on Tuesday, and Penn State’s own Saquon Barkley checked in at No. 93 thanks to his reported $25.8 million haul as a rookie.
According to Forbes, the 22-year old made $21.3 million in salary/winnings along with $4.5 million in endorsements as an NFL rookie. His fully guaranteed four-year, $31.2 million rookie contract carries an average annual value of less than $8 million, but Barkley took home $15 million of that immediately as a signing bonus.
Barkley also picked up a number of endorsements during his first pro season, including deals with Nike, Pepsi, and Toyota, among others. You may be surprised to see endorsements make up such a small total of the running back’s earnings this year, but all 18 NFL players on the list had salaries/earnings make up the majority of their total income. With the exception of Tom Brady (No. 81) and Drew Brees (No. 27), the NFL’s representatives on this list made way more money from their salaries than endorsements.
Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers checked into the list at No. 6 and 7, respectively, as the highest-paid NFL players. PGA Tour golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were ranked No. 11 and 19, respectively, while Golden State Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant topped the NBA players on the list at No. 9 and 10.
Unsurprisingly, there were also plenty of soccer players on the list, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar occupying the top three spots as the only athletes to bring in more than $100 million last year. Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, who helped Liverpool FC become champions of Europe by winning the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League, was ranked five spots below Barkley at No. 98 with $25.1 million in earnings.
I guess handing out $100 bills like candy outside a New York City nightclub back in January didn’t hurt No. 26’s wallet too much after all.
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