How Do MLB Salaries Compare To NFL Salaries For Top 2-Sport Athletes?

Image credit: Kyler Murray (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

For the longest time, the salary disparities between baseball and football have made it easy to say that, for a player of equal talent in both sports, baseball made more sense financially. And that was before you got to the health risks associated with playing football.

But with NFL salaries skyrocketing in the past decade, I wanted to see if that was still the case. In 2015, the NFL salary cap sat at $144 million. That was at a time where the Dodgers and Yankees were spending over $100 million more than that, and seven different MLB teams spent more than the NFL salary cap.

In 2025, the NFL salary cap will be $279 million. The average NFL team will be expected to spend roughly that amount.

In baseball, that’s a level that few teams aspire to reach. The Mets and Dodgers payrolls will exceed $279 million, but they are the only two MLB teams expected to spend more than the NFL salary cap. While the base spending in the NFL has gone up by nearly $130 million per team over the past decade, the average MLB team is spending only $28 million more than it did in 2015. A number of teams haven’t seen significant increases in MLB salary spending over the past decade, according to Spotrac and Cot’s Baseball Contracts data.

Note that we’re not comparing baseball to basketball for the simple reason that there are fewer players who can choose between both sports. The quick summary is, with much smaller rosters, anyone who sticks in the NBA long-term will likely do better financially. But it is much tougher to make a team, and so the risk of making much less money is significant.

Ok, back to baseball vs. football.

When we studied this topic at Baseball America a decade ago, we used the examples of Jeff Samardzija and Calvin Johnson to illustrate the financial appeal of baseball. Both Samardzija and Johnson were standout players at both sports. Johnson chose football; Samardzija chose baseball. Johnson’s NFL career began in 2007. Samardzija’s MLB career began in 2008. 

Johnson, of course, was one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history. Megatron was a six-time Pro Bowler, a three-time first-team All Pro and an easy induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. Samardzija was a good and durable pitcher, who went 80-106, 4.15 for his career. He made one All-Star game.

Samardzija earned $116 million for his 13-year MLB career. Johnson earned $112 million for his nine-year NFL career.

From a purely financial standpoint, the comparison of Samardzija and Johnson made an excellent argument for players to choose baseball. By being the absolute best of his era, Johnson made the same amount of money as Samardzija, a pitcher who ranked among the top 40-50 pitchers of his era.

The next test case was Kyler Murray. He became the only player to ever be drafted in the first round of both the baseball and football drafts, so he faced a clear choice: he could play for the A’s as an outfielder or play in the NFL as a quarterback. Murray chose football and, financially, it has been an overwhelmingly successful decision, as we predicted at the time. 

Murray has earned $138 million so far in his NFL career. He will make another $32 million in 2025 and is scheduled to make $157 million total over the next four seasons, although not all of that is guaranteed.

At this moment, Murray has earned just a bit more for his NFL career than Andrew McCutchen has earned in his MLB career. McCutchen has said this is likely the final year of his career. Murray likely has five or more years left in his career.

At this point, it’s extremely likely that Murray will earn over $200 million in his NFL career. He could possibly reach $300 million.

Murray’s 2018 MLB draft class was not a good one for first round college outfielders. Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach has proven to be the best of that bunch, so we’ll use him as a comparison point for Murray’s reasonable best-case scenario if he had chosen baseball.

While Murray has earned $138 million so far, Larnach has earned $6.6 million in baseball, including his draft signing bonus. He will not reach free agency until the 2028 season, when he will be 31.

To give baseball a better scenario, let’s look at Nico Hoerner. Hoerner is the most productive first-round pick from that 2018 class so far. He reached arbitration eligibility earlier than Larnach. He’s earned $30 million so far and will be a free agent as a 30-year-old after the 2026 season. It’s highly unlikely that Hoerner could catch Murray in career earnings after he reaches free agency.

A.J. Brown is one other useful data point from that era. He was drafted and signed by the Padres coming out of high school while also being allowed to play college football. He worked out with the Padres but never played in an official game. He became an NFL first-round pick and is a star for the Super Bowl champion Eagles. He’s earned $61 million so far in his NFL career. Bo Bichette has been the most successful high school hitter from Brown’s 2016 draft class. He’s earned $37 million, but that number should climb dramatically once he reaches free agency after this season.

But what about if a player had to choose now? We can’t project out future salary paths for either sport, although the current trajectory of NFL salaries would indicate that we can expect to see more growth in football salaries than baseball.

We can, however, look at career earnings for active players. And baseball still largely ends up on top. NFL careers are shorter, and the spread between how much elite quarterbacks make compared to the rest of the sport makes it hard for non-quarterbacks to compare to their MLB brethren.

On a pure comparison of top-tier quarterbacks and pitchers, the numbers are roughly equivalent. Depending on how much quarterback Aaron Rodgers signs for this offseason, he may top Justin Verlander or fall just short of Verlander’s $409 million in career earnings, which leads active pitchers. There are five active pitchers with $200+ million in earnings compared to 10 quarterbacks, and there are 21 pitchers at $100+ million compared to 23 quarterbacks.

Where baseball has a distinct advantage is when you get to the players who are above-average but not stars. Each team has one starting quarterback, while every MLB team has five or more starters, a closer and many other relievers. So while there are 31 NFL active quarterbacks who have earned $50+ million, there are 61 active pitchers. While 100 MLB pitchers have earned $25+ million, only 41 quarterbacks have.

If we compare position players in baseball to NFL skills players (wide receiver, running back, defensive backs), MLB salaries again do better in comparison to the NFL. We focused on those positions because very few two-sport MLB/NFL players would project as offensive or defensive linemen, tight ends or linebackers. The size requirements are just too different.

At the top, there is still no comparison, in part because MLB contracts are fully guaranteed as the norm, while NFL contracts are not. Mike Trout has made over $300 million. Juan Soto has topped $200 million in guarantees with his Mets contract, and that number could greatly exceed that of any NFL player if he plays the full 15 years of his new contract. Seven active MLB position players have earned over $200 million already. There isn’t an active non-quarterback in the NFL who has earned $200 million. Mike Evans is the only active NFL wide receiver, running back, safety or cornerback to top $150 million in career earnings.

Twelve MLB active outfielders and 38 position players have topped $100 million in career earnings according to Spotrac. Only eight active NFL receivers and seven defensive backs have topped $100 million. There are 28 outfielders and 73 position players overall with over $50 million in earnings compared to 31 wide receivers and 66 skills position players overall.

The arrival of NIL (name, image and likeness) compensation in college sports may eventually alter this balance again. While NIL payments are not generally publicly announced, there are many college football players making six or even seven figures through NIL payments. There are NIL payments for baseball players, but at a smaller scale for fewer players.

It still pays to play baseball financially for two-sport stars, but the steady rise of NFL salaries and the relative stagnation of baseball salaries is closing the gap.