Professional Athletes Set To Earn Big Money in 2021

A country music hit song from the 1970s gave this line of sage advice: “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.”

In 2021, the updated version should say “Mamas, make sure your babies grow up to be point guards,” because they could end up as one of the top five players on the list of highest-paid pro athletes in 2021.

GOBankingRates looked at the top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the four major U.S. sports and compiled the top 20 salaries across sports.

Basketball players dominate the list, with the top five salaries and eight of the first 11. And although football is the most popular U.S. sport, only four NFL players are in the top 20. Read on to see the entire list of athletes who will earn big money this year.

• Sport: Baseball
• Team: Washington Nationals
• Position: Starting pitcher
• 2021 Salary: $35,000,000

• Sport: Baseball
• Team: Colorado Rockies
• Position: Third base
• 2021 Salary: $35,000,000

• Sport: Baseball
• Team: Houston Astros
• Position: Starting pitcher
• 2021 Salary: $35,000,000

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Golden State Warriors
• Position: Shooting guard
• 2021 Salary: $35,361,360

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Los Angeles Clippers
• Position: Shooting guard
• 2021 Salary: $35,450,412

• Sport: Baseball
• Team: New York Yankees
• Position: Starting pitcher
• 2021 Salary: $36,000,000

• Sport: Baseball
• Team: New York Mets
• Position: Starting pitcher
• 2021 Salary: $36,000,000

• Sport: Football
• Team: New Orleans Saints
• Position: Quarterback
• 2021 Salary: $36,150,000

• Sport: Football
• Team: Green Bay Packers
• Position: Quarterback
• 2021 Salary: $36,352,000

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Detroit Pistons
• Position: Power forward
• 2021 Salary: $36,810,996

• Sport: Baseball
• Team: Los Angeles Angels
• Position: Center field
• 2021 Salary: $37,116,666

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Los Angeles Lakers
• Position: Small forward
• 2021 Salary: $39,219,565

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Brooklyn Nets
• Position: Small forward
• 2021 Salary: $40,108,950

• Sport: Football
• Team: Atlanta Falcons
• Position: Quarterback
• 2021 Salary: $40,912,500

• Sport: Football
• Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
• Position: Quarterback
• 2021 Salary: $41,250,000

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Houston Rockets
• Position: Point guard
• 2021 Salary: $41,254,920

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Houston Rockets
• Position: Shooting guard
• 2021 Salary: $41,254,920

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Phoenix Suns
• Position: Point guard
• 2021 Salary: $41,358,814

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Washington Wizards
• Position: Point guard
• 2021 Salary: $41,358,814

• Sport: Basketball
• Team: Golden State Warriors
• Position: Point guard
• 2021 Salary: $43,006,362

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In order to discover which professional athletes are set to earn big money in 2021, GOBankingRates looked at the top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2020/21 NBA season, top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2021 NFL season, the top 50 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2021 MLB season and the top 25 salaries in terms of cap hit for the 2021 NHL season. Once these were isolated GOBankingRates found the following factors for each of the 175 athletes: (1) name of athlete; (2) sport played by athlete; (3) team played for; (4) position; and (5) salary in or 2021 in terms of cap hit. Only factor (5) was used to determine final rankings. All data was collected on and up to date as of Dec. 17, 2020.