Most Expensive Super Bowl Rosters of the Past Decade

Cash is king, and the only way to achieve royalty in the NFL is to spend big.

However, as the following slideshow illustrates, teams have to spend wisely. The franchises that win Super Bowl titles often spread out their spending, not devoting too much of their salary cap to one player.

GOBankingRates looked at the Super Bowl participants of the past decade and calculated the active roster total cap hit, plus the cap hit for the highest-paid player.

The average cap hit for the highest-paid player on each team was 13.09%, and the only time the percentage was over 20% was in Super Bowl LI, when quarterback Matt Ryan’s salary of $23,750,000 was 21.09% of the team’s salary cap. (Notably, the Falcons lost.)

Which team had the highest total cap hit, and who were the highest-paid players of the past decade? Read on to find out more about these pricey teams.

• Super Bowl result: Lost 43-8 to Seattle Seahawks
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 2, 2014
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $96,535,491
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Peyton Manning
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $17,500,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 18.13%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 28-24 to New England Patriots
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 1, 2015
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $96,775,515
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Left Tackle Russell Okung
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $11,240,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 11.61%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 21-17 to New York Giants
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 5, 2012
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $99,687,539
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Tom Brady
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $12,950,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 12.99%

• Super Bowl result: Won 34-31 over San Francisco 49ers
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 3, 2013
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $101,262,723
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Outside Linebacker Terrell Suggs
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $11,520,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 11.38%

• Super Bowl result: Won 43-8 over Denver Broncos
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 2, 2014
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $101,503,464
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Left Tackle Russell Okung
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $9,540,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 9.40%

• Super Bowl result: Won 28-24 over Seattle Seahawks
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 1, 2015
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $102,677,088
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Tom Brady
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $14,800,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 14.41%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 34-28 in overtime to New England Patriots
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 5, 2017
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $112,615,074
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Matt Ryan
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $23,750,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 21.09%

• Super Bowl result: Won 21-17 over New England Patriots
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 5, 2012
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $115,157,173
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Eli Manning
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $14,100,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 12.24%

• Super Bowl result: Won 34-28 in overtime over Atlanta Falcons
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 5, 2017
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $117,616,342
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Tom Brady
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $13,764,705
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 11.70%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 24-10 to Denver Broncos
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 7, 2016
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $121,004,274
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Defensive End Charles Johnson
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $20,020,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 16.54%

• Super Bowl result: Won 31-20 over San Francisco 49ers
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 2, 2020
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $124,461,112
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Wide Receiver Sammy Watkins
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $19,200,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 15.43%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 41-33 to Philadelphia Eagles
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 4, 2018
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $129,468,455
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Tom Brady
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $14,000,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 10.81%

• Super Bowl result: Won 41-33 over New England Patriots
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 4, 2018
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $130,626,348
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Wide Receiver Alshon Jeffery
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $10,750,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 8.23%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 34-31 to Baltimore Ravens
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 3, 2013
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $130,707,457
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Inside Linebacker Patrick Willis
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $17,777,332
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 13.60%

• Super Bowl result: Won 24-10 over Carolina Panthers
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 7, 2016
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $134,668,943
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Peyton Manning
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $17,500,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 12.99%

• Super Bowl result: Won 13-3 over Los Angeles Rams
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 3, 2019
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $155,807,993
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Tom Brady
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $22,000,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 14.12%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 13-3 to New England Patriots
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 3, 2019
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $158,606,483
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $14,500,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 9.14%

• Super Bowl result: Lost 31-20 to Kansas City Chiefs
• Super Bowl date: Feb. 2, 2020
• Active Roster Total Cap Hit: $167,604,341
• Highest-Paid Player on Roster: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo
• Highest-Paid Player’s Cap Hit: $20,000,000
• Highest-Paid Player’s % of Active Roster Cap Hit: 11.93%

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Photo Disclaimer: Please note photos are for representational purposes only.

Methodology: In order to discover the most expensive Super Bowl rosters of the past decade, GOBankingRates first used Pro-Football Reference’s “Super Bowl History” data to identify the participants of the last decades’ Super Bowls, as well as the date the games were played. GOBankingRates then found for each Super Bowl’s participating teams: (1) active roster total cap hit for that season; (2) highest-paid player on the roster that season; (3) what the highest-paid player’s cap hit was for that season; and (4) what percent the highest player’s cap hit made up of the total active roster’s cap hit. All data was collected on and up to date as of Jan. 13, 2021.