Professional Athletes Set To Earn Big Money in 2021

These players have even more money in their futures.

By George Malone January 16, 2021 Net Worth 101

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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.

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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.

Last updated: Jan. 11, 2021

1/20

Patrick Smith / Getty Images

18. (tie) Stephen Strasburg

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

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2/20

Dustin Bradford / Getty Images

18. (tie) Nolan Arenado

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

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3/20

Julio Cortez/AP / Shutterstock.com

18. (tie) Zack Greinke

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

Read: Most Successful Athlete From Every Decade

4/20

Keith Allison / Flickr.com

17. Klay Thompson

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

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5/20

Icon Sportswire / Getty Images

16. Paul George

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

Find Out: Biggest Sports Contracts Ever

6/20

Frank Franklin II/AP / Shutterstock.com

14. (tie) Gerrit Cole

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

Read: Pro Athletes Who Have Lost Millions of Dollars

7/20

Kathy Willens/AP / Shutterstock.com

14. (tie) Jacob deGrom

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

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8/20

Chris Graythen / Getty Images

13. Drew Brees

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

9/20

Mat Hayward / Shutterstock.com

12. Aaron Rodgers

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

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10/20

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

11. Blake Griffin

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

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11/20

Stephen Dunn / Getty Images

10. Mike Trout

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

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12/20

Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images

9. LeBron James

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

Find Out: How Much Is LeBron James Worth?

13/20

Al Bello / Getty Images

8. Kevin Durant

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

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14/20

Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images

7. Matt Ryan

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

Find Out: Here’s How Rich Every NFL Team Is

15/20

Andy Lyons / Getty Images

6. Ben Roethlisberger

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

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16/20

Rob Carr / Getty Images

4. (tie) John Wall

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

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17/20

Tim Warner / Getty Images

4. (tie) James Harden

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

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18/20

Omar Rawlings / Getty Images

2. (tie) Chris Paul

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

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19/20

Jim McIsaac / Getty Images

2. (tie) Russell Westbrook

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

Read: The Richest NBA Team Owners

20/20

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

1. Stephen Curry

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

More From GOBankingRates

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.