Despite Two MVPs, Lamar Jackson Makes Less Than Joe Burrow and Brock Purdy

The quarterback market is a fickle beast that often depicts the landscape of the NFL as being much more unfair than it may otherwise be. MVP winners and Super Bowl champions are routinely underpaid when compared to the likes of the league’s top earners, resulting in some rather jarring trends and comparisons.

For example, since 2015, Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy, and Joe Burrow are the only quarterbacks who have managed to appear in the Super Bowl and also command a top-10 salary. In the last 10 years, Mahomes is the only quarterback who has received a top-10 salary and also won the Super Bowl.

Prior to Purdy’s massive contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers late last month, Burrow and Mahomes were the only two quarterbacks who had achieved both of those feats in recent history. Nevertheless, the prevailing sentiment is that teams need a quarterback in order to win, and quarterbacks cost money.

In the wake of Purdy being listed as one of the highest earners in the league today, the Baltimore Ravens now find themselves as the next franchise being pressured to offer a market-setting contract. According to the host of The Vault and former editor for the Baltimore Ravens, Sarah Ellison, Jackson is unlikely to remain at the bottom of the top-10 pay sheet for much longer.

With Brock Purdy striking a deal with San Fran, Lamar Jackson becomes the 10th highest QB in annual average salary.

Lamar will leapfrog to the top of the league when he signs an extension, which is expected this offseason or next:

1) Dak Prescott: $60M
2) Josh Allen: $55M
2)… pic.twitter.com/VZr9m69gmv

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) May 16, 2025

The current rankings of QB salaries seem a bit humorous when accounting for both individual and playoff success. The nine quarterbacks who are all ahead of Jackson in terms of salary combine for a total of zero All-Pro honors and one MVP award-winning season.

Jackson alone has received three separate All-Pro honors and is a two-time regular-season MVP. From an accolade standpoint, Jackson has quite literally outdone the nine highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL today all by himself.

The Ravens and Jackson came to an agreement in 2023 over a five-year, $260-million contract extension. Since then, however, Jackson has continued to outdo himself.

On Christmas Day of that same year, he etched his name into the history books by breaking Michael Vick’s all-time record for career rushing yards for a quarterback, solidifying himself as one of the greatest dual-threat signal callers in NFL history. While Jackson has been steadily breaking records, his contemporaries have continued to pass him by in terms of pay.

Thankfully, the team seems to be well aware of the dwindling appeal surrounding Jackson’s 2023 extension. Back in March, head coach John Harbaugh informed the media that “sooner or later, that’s definitely going to have to happen” when asked about his quarterback receiving a new deal.

Everyone seems to be in agreement that the star quarterback has earned himself an increase in pay. Unfortunately, as the initially highlighted trend suggests, that could come at the expense of the team’s Super Bowl aspirations.

Nevertheless, if there was ever a quarterback who has proven themselves to be capable of bucking trends and defying the odds, it’s the man who the good people of Baltimore affectionately refer to as “Action Jackson.”