From Pitchers to Point Guards: The 41 Highest-Paying Positions in Sports

Any modern sports fan is probably familiar with the work of author Michael Lewis, even if they don’t realize it. His breakout hit “Moneyball” detailed how Billy Beane, a former general manager of the Oakland A’s, leveraged statistical analysis into building a better baseball team with less money — and it completely changed the face of the game. Likewise, Lewis’ book “The Blind Side” dug into how devastating pass rushers like Lawrence Taylor forced football teams to recognize that the left tackle — the one protecting the “blind side” of a right-handed quarterback — is one of the more important positions on the field.

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While these two books were about different sports played on opposite sides of the country, they honed in on the concept of value. In particular, how do the people putting together professional sports teams determine which players are the most decisive when it comes to winning? And how do they spend the dollars at their disposal as strategically as possible to get the players who will make the biggest difference?

That second question can get even trickier when you include market dynamics. No matter how essential a player might be to a team’s success, it won’t translate into a big contract if there’s an abundance of other players capable of doing the same job. As such, player salaries can be a fascinating insight into the value of specific positions and athletes to a successful team.

To find the most valuable positions in sports, GOBankingRates analyzed Spotrac’s current season positional cap/payroll data for the four major North American professional sports leagues — the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB — and broke it down by position. GOBankingRates then determined the average cap hit for each position and measured that against the average league salary in terms of percentage difference.

Take a look at all 41 positions in football, basketball, hockey and baseball, ranked by how much more — or less — the cap hit is for the average player at those positions compared to the salary earned by the average athlete in their league. You’ll see that there’s a huge discrepancy when it comes to the highest-paying jobs.

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $741,174
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: -64.87%

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• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $927,012
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -62.54%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $1,110,277
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -55.14%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $1,098,595
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: -47.93%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $1,310,342
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: -37.90%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $1,599,258
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -35.38%

• League: NBA
• Position average cap hit: $5,777,782
• League average salary: $8,277,527
• Percentage difference: -30.20%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $1,760,906
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -28.85%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $1,549,458
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: -26.56%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $1,870,225
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -24.43%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $1,771,090
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: -16.06%

• League: NHL
• Position average cap hit: $2,600,085
• League average salary: $3,038,357
• Percentage difference: -14.42%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,135,086
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -13.73%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,182,631
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -11.81%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,191,461
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -11.45%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,201,309
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -11.06%

• League: NHL
• Position average cap hit: $2,713,550
• League average salary: $3,038,357
• Percentage difference: -10.69%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,285,623
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -7.65%

• League: NBA
• Position average cap hit: $7,700,340
• League average salary: $8,277,527
• Percentage difference: -6.97%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $2,055,381
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: -2.59%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,441,491
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: -1.35%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,541,724
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 2.70%

• League: NBA
• Position average cap hit: $8,552,563
• League average salary: $8,277,527
• Percentage difference: 3.32%

• League: NHL
• Position average cap hit: $3,146,141
• League average salary: $3,038,357
• Percentage difference: 3.55%

• League: NHL
• Position average cap hit: $3,182,628
• League average salary: $3,038,357
• Percentage difference: 4.75%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $2,234,687
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: 5.91%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,659,856
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 7.47%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,718,190
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 9.83%

• League: NBA
• Position average cap hit: $9,219,977
• League average salary: $8,277,527
• Percentage difference: 11.39%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $2,400,465
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: 13.77%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $2,860,372
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 15.57%

• League: NHL
• Position average cap hit: $3,549,381
• League average salary: $3,038,357
• Percentage difference: 16.82%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $2,552,116
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: 20.96%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $3,028,332
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 22.36%

• League: NBA
• Position average cap hit: $10,136,971
• League average salary: $8,277,527
• Percentage difference: 22.46%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $3,196,071
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 29.14%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $2,810,731
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: 33.21%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $2,858,279
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: 35.47%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $3,998,055
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 61.54%

• League: MLB
• Position average cap hit: $3,937,074
• League average salary: $2,109,949
• Percentage difference: 86.60%

• League: NFL
• Position average cap hit: $5,316,404
• League average salary: $2,474,962
• Percentage difference: 114.81%

Joel Anderson contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: In order to find the highest-paid positions in sports, GOBankingRates looked at Spotrac current season positional cap/payroll data across the “big four” American sports leagues: National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL). For each position in every league, GOBankingRates found the following factors: (1) average players of that position on a team; (2) average total cap hit for that position per team; (3) average cap hit by position; (4) league average salary for all players; and (5) percent difference between position average cap hit and league average salary. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data only includes players on an active roster who have also tested negative for COVID-19. All data were collected on and up to date as of Aug. 4, 2020.