These are the highest paid NFL coaches for the 2026 season: List of salaries for the biggest earners

The NFL season is officially underway. Ok, it’s just training camp, but we will take it. After month of floating in a football-less abyss following the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl win in February, we are back.

Coaches getting blockbusting deals

All 32 teams training camps are officially underway, and the first preseason game just a week from today. While players have their work cut out, getting back in shape, learning the play books and eventually making the roster, coaches are the ones who will be working tirelessly over the next six weeks getting their teams ready for Week 1.

Players contracts don’t kick in until the start of the regular season. We went over that in an article yesterday, but for coaches they have their work cut, and start to earn their paychecks even before training camp starts. Coaches have six weeks to trim their preseason roster down to 53 men, and once they have that in hand, that’s when the real work comes.

While players get the mega contracts ranging up to $50 million a year, coaches are starting to get some block buster contract as well. Andy Reid is the most successful coach currently manning the sidelines of any NFL team, and his contract reflects that. He is the top paid coach in the league, bringing home $20 million a year.

Harbaugh joins Reid as NFL’s top earner

Reid signed the five-year deal in April of 2024 after winning his third Super Bowl title with the Kansas City Chiefs. John Harbaugh joined Reid in the $20 million a year club after getting fired by the Baltimore Ravens last year. He signed a five-year deal with the New York Giants that matched Reid’s contract. Harbaugh won a Super Bowl with the Ravens back in 2013, and New York are hoping that he will bring them a Lombardi Trophy for the first time since 2012 when Eli Manning and the Giants beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Top paid coaches in the NFL

• 1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs: $20 million
• 2. John Harbaugh, New York Giants: $20 million
• 3. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos: $18 million
• 4. Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers: $16 million
• 5 (tie). Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams: $15 million
• 5. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles: $15 million
• 7 (tie). Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers: $14 million
• 7. Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots: $14 million
• 9 (tie). Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears: $13 million
• 9 Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings: $13 million

Sean Payton took the Denver Broncos to the AFC Championship in his third year in Denver. The Mile High franchise brought the former New Orleans Saints coach in hoping to return the Broncos to the contender conversation in the AFC, paying him $18 million a year. Payton took Denver to a game away from the Super Bowl with a second year quarterback.

The three top paid coaches in the league have all won Super Bowls before. The coach with the biggest contract that is yet to lift the Lomabri Trophy is Jim Harbaugh, brother of John. Jim got to the Super Bowl in his first stint as an NFL coach with the San Francisco 49ers. He and the Niners fell just short before heading to the University of Michigan and winning the College Football Playoffs National Championship in 2023. He returned to the NFL a year later, signing a contract with the Los Angeles Chargers worth $16 million a year.

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