Former BYU linebacker Fred Warner is being paid handsomely in the NFL, thanks to a five-year, reportedly $95 million contract extension he signed with the San Francisco 49ers last season.
That kind of money makes Warner one of the select members of the NFL all-paid team, which recognizes the top-paid athletes at each position.
NFL.com’s Anthony Holzman-Escareno released the 2022 NFL all-paid team earlier this week, and Warner is the lone Utah tie to make the list.
Under his contract, Warner is scheduled to make an average of $19 million per season, per Holzman-Escareno.
That puts him just behind the other linebacker on the list: Indianapolis’ Darius Leonard makes an average of $19.7 million per year.
“Warner’s biggest compliment may have been future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers telling him: ‘Ain’t nobody better. ... You’re the best and everybody knows it,’” Holzman-Escareno wrote. “Warner has also received PFF’s highest coverage grade among linebackers (90.5) over the last two seasons.”
Warner is headed into his fifth NFL season in 2022, after being a third-round draft pick by the 49ers in 2018. He made first-team All-Pro and the Pro Bowl during the 2020 season.
Here’s a few other highlights from the 2022 NFL all-paid team, with all info courtesy Holzman-Escareno:
- Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers tops the list by making an average of $50.3 million per year on his new contract extension, signed earlier this offseason.
- Three wide receivers make the list at over $27 million per year: Miami’s Tyreek Hill ($30 million), Las Vegas’ Davante Adams ($28 million) and Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins ($27.3 million). Hill and Adams were traded to their new teams this offseason, deals that came with new contracts.
- Pittsburgh edge rusher T.J. Watt is the highest paid defender on the list at an average of $28 million per year, while Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Nick Bosa is next at $27 million.