Football Players From These Colleges Make the Most Total NFL Money

Powerhouses such as Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Ohio State have dominated the college football scene the past few years, racking up nine of the past 11 national championships between them.

But does that success translate to the next level, especially financially? After all, students go to college to set themselves up for their careers and future success, right?

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GOBankingRates looked at which colleges’ players have the most lucrative NFL careers. We calculated total active players, total earnings and looked at the top active earner from each school.

Read on to see which colleges produce players that make the most total NFL money.

• Active Players: 19
• Total Earnings: $286,096,516
• Top Earner: Kirk Cousins
• Top Earning Position: Quarterback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $161,669,486
• Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 56.51%

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• Active Players: 28
• Total Earnings: $302,781,318
• Top Earner: Calais Campbell
• Top Earning Position: Defensive end
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $128,091,393
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 42.30%

• Active Players: 25
• Total Earnings: $310,683,417
• Top Earner: Ndamukong Suh
• Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $166,165,157
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 53.48%

• Active Players: 23
• Total Earnings: $323,208,461
• Top Earner: Duane Brown
• Top Earning Position: Left tackle
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $82,773,616
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 25.61 %

• Active Players: 30
• Total Earnings: $361,229,682
• Top Earner: Anthony Barr
• Top Earning Position: Outside linebacker
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $59,407,579
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 16.45%

• Active Players: 40
• Total Earnings: $366,524,924
• Top Earner: Allen Robinson
• Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $64,530,505
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 17.61%

• Active Players: 42
• Total Earnings: $369,935,550
• Top Earner: Riley Reiff
• Top Earning Position: Left tackle
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $69,648,637
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 18.83%

• Active Players: 30
• Total Earnings: $387,202,771
• Top Earner: Stephon Gilmore
• Top Earning Position: Cornerback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $87,456,433
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 22.59%

• Active Players: 17
• Total Earnings: $388,596,784
• Top Earner: Matt Ryan
• Top Earning Position: Quarterback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $267,007,749
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 68.71%

• Active Players: 32
• Total Earnings: $408,879,214
• Top Earner: Richard Sherman
• Top Earning Position: Cornerback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $83,860,115
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 20.51%

• Active Players: 29
• Total Earnings: $418,624,378
• Top Earner: Tyron Smith
• Top Earning Position: Left tackle
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $98,297,504
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.48%

• Active Players: 46
• Total Earnings: $452,540,051
• Top Earner: Carlos Dunlap
• Top Earning Position: Defensive end
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $78,140,148
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 17.27%

• Active Players: 32
• Total Earnings: $474,802,358
• Top Earner: Rodney Hudson
• Top Earning Position: Center
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $71,553,707
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 15.07%

• Active Players: 25
• Total Earnings: $508,748,939
• Top Earner: Dak Prescott
• Top Earning Position: Quarterback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $111,317,825
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 21.88%

• Active Players: 46
• Total Earnings: $511,870,355
• Top Earner: Ronnie Stanley
• Top Earning Position: Tackle
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $79,145,183
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 15.46%

• Active Players: 41
• Total Earnings: $533,697,817
• Top Earner: Trent Williams
• Top Earning Position: Left tackle
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $140,617,449
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 26.35%

• Active Players: 36
• Total Earnings: $578,437,613
• Top Earner: DeAndre Hopkins
• Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $97,677,890
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings:16.89%

• Active Players: 30
• Total Earnings: $589,894,339
• Top Earner: Russell Wilson
• Top Earning Position: Quarterback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $181,362,520
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 30.74%

• Active Players: 32
• Total Earnings: $604,698,389
• Top Earner: Von Miller
• Top Earning Position: Outside linebacker
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $144,475,534
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.89%

• Active Players: 21
• Total Earnings: $685,117,876
• Top Earner: Aaron Rodgers
• Top Earning Position: Quarterback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $263,608,010
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 38.48%

• Active Players: 57
• Total Earnings: $713,951,607
• Top Earner: Matthew Stafford
• Top Earning Position: Quarterback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $239,306,037
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 33.52%

• Active Players: 47 
• Total Earnings: $737,078,122
• Top Earner: Tom Brady
• Top Earning Position: Quarterback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $302,962,392
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 41.10%

• Active Players: 64
• Total Earnings: $848,099,420
• Top Earner: Cameron Heyward
• Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $88,732,734
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 10.46%

• Active Players: 67
• Total Earnings: $880,552,186
• Top Earner: Patrick Peterson
• Top Earning Position: Cornerback
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $102,757,324
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 11.67%

• Active Players: 67
• Total Earnings: $966,830,908
• Top Earner: Julio Jones
• Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $140,640,527
• % Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 14.55%

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Methodology: GOBankingRates used Spotrac’s NFL College Tracker data to find the 25 colleges that turned out players that make the most total NFL money. For each of these colleges, GOBankingRates found the following data points: (1) university name; (2) total active players in the NFL; (3) total career earnings from these players, (4) top career earner from each school; (5) top earner’s career earnings; and (6) percent top earner’s career earnings make of the (3) total career earnings for the school. All data was collected on and up to date as of Aug. 23, 2022.