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.

The Latest: How Much Money Are NBA Teams Losing Without Fans?

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

Find Out: The Richest Athletes in the World

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

Did You Know: Injuries Cost These 13 Athletes a Fortune

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

Read: Most Successful Athlete From Every Decade

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

Who’s Richer: These Sports Stars or Their Significant Others?

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

Find Out:  Biggest Sports Contracts Ever

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

Read: Pro Athletes Who Have Lost Millions of Dollars

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

More Sports:  Incredibly Rich Retired Athletes

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

Related: 27 Richest No. 1 NFL Draft Picks

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

Find Out: The Biggest Bargain on Every NFL Roster

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

Looking Back: Biggest Sports Deals of 2020

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

On The Big Screen: The 22 Highest-Grossing Movies Starring Athletes

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

Find Out: How Much Is LeBron James Worth? 

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

Looking Back: Were These Athletes Worth the Huge Contracts?

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

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

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

Did You Know: Which NFL Hall of Famer Has the Highest Net Worth?

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

Learn More: The Highest-Paid Athlete of Every Year From 1990 to 2020

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

Looking Back: From Curry to Mahomes, Fans Bought Up These Sports Jerseys To Make Them the Bestselling Ones of 2020

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

Did You Know: LeBron James and More of the Richest Athletes Younger Than 40

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

Read: The Richest NBA Team Owners

• 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.