Who are the highest-paid NFL head coaches this season? Let’s examine the sideline generals who are earning the most money annually and how they ended up in this position.
List of Highest-Paid NFL Coaches and Their Salary Estimates
While the NFL Players Association and salary cap websites like Over the Cap and Spotrac keep track of player earnings, it’s often challenging to track down the salaries of NFL head coaches. Still, reporting from outlets like Sportico and Front Office Sports have gauged what the league’s top head coaches are making.
There is no salary cap for NFL head coaches or their staff. While head coaching salaries are unlikely to keep pace with elite player salaries, coaching contracts continue to increase. Let’s run through the top five highest-paid head coaches in the NFL.
1) Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
- 2024 salary: $20 million
Reid is widely regarded as the best head coach in the NFL, so it makes sense that he’s also the league’s highest-paid coach.
The Chiefs extended Reid in late April, locking him up on a new deal that made him the top-ranked head coach on this list. He’s under contract through the 2029 season.
Since arriving in Kansas City in 2013, Reid has led the franchise to three Super Bowl wins. While many will attribute Reid’s success to superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, he had plenty of success as a head coach in the NFL before Mahomes’ arrival.
Counting regular-season and postseason success, Reid has the fourth-most wins of any head coach in NFL history, and there’s a huge gap between Reid and the next-winningest active head coach (Tomlin).
Reid has the second most playoff wins all-time, behind only former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
The only head coach to win 100 games with two franchises, Reid will be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame when he retires (although the 66-year-old has said that he’s open to coaching into his 70s, so he may not be retiring anytime soon).
2) Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
- 2024 salary: $18 million
The Broncos needed to make a drastic change after their failed Nathaniel Hackett experiment, and shifting to a future Hall of Fame head coach in Payton certainly qualified as drastic. But keeping up with the Chiefs requires an aggressive mindset.
Denver sent a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-rounder to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for Payton’s rights and a 2024 third-round selection.
In February 2023, NBC Sports’ Peter King reported that Payton signed a five-year contract “in the neighborhood” of $18 million annually. Considering the draft capital and money they gave up, the Broncos clearly expect Payton to turn the team into a perennial contender.
The Broncos invested a first-round pick in Oregon QB Bo Nix, named him the starter for the 2024 season, and honored him as the first rookie captain in 57 years. Payton and Nix have a strong working relationship, and the rookie quarterback has exceeded expectations throughout his first season, leading Denver to the playoffs.
The Broncos have their quarterback of the future and an offensive guru to help him realize his full potential, so they are in excellent shape.
3T) Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
- 2024 salary: $16 million
Tomlin was hired as the Steelers’ head coach on Jan. 27, 2007. He has never had a losing season, holding the NFL record for most consecutive non-losing seasons to begin an NFL coaching career. Tomlin’s worst seasons were in 2012, 2013, and 2019, when his teams finished 8-8.
Tomlin has led the Steelers to 12 playoff appearances, seven division titles, five Divisional Rounds, three AFC Championship Games, and two Super Bowls (including one victory).
KEEP READING: Ranking the Best Head Coaches in NFL History
Tomlin has two Super Bowl championships under his belt: one as an assistant coach and one as a head coach. His title as an assistant came in Super Bowl 37 as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive backs coach, while his ring as the Steelers’ head coach came in Super Bowl 43.
On June 10, 2024, the Steelers and Tomlin agreed to terms on a three-year extension that will keep him under contract through the 2027 season. According to Front Office Sports, he’s earning $16 million annually.
3T) Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
- 2024 salary: $16 million
Harbaugh is back in the NFL like he never left. After a nearly decade-long stint as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Harbaugh signed a five-year, $80 million deal with the Chargers last offseason.
Upon Harbaugh’s arrival as the Chargers’ head coach, expectations weren’t very high heading into the regular season, with many expecting the team to miss the playoffs. However, Harbaugh led Los Angeles to 11 wins and a playoff berth even after the team offloaded several talented offensive players in the offseason.
The Chargers defense has become arguably the best unit in the league, allowing an NFL-best 17.7 points per game. Harbaugh brought Jesse Minter with him from Michigan and made him the Chargers’ defensive coordinator, which proved to be a phenomenal decision.
Harbaugh’s career winning percentage is second-best among active head coaches and eighth all-time.
5) Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
- 2024 salary: $15 million
After becoming a head coach at age 30, Sean McVay became the youngest NFL head coach (37) to win a Super Bowl when the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022.
As of 2024, he’s still the second-youngest head coach in the league; the only head coach who is younger is 37-year-old Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, who is one year younger than the Rams head coach.
Amazon reportedly offered McVay $100 million over five years to serve as a broadcaster after the 2022 campaign, but he chose to stay in Los Angeles — and received a subsequent pay bump.
While he has flirted with the idea of an early retirement from coaching, he decided to stick with the Rams… for now.
McVay led the Rams to a winning record in seven of his first eight seasons, and they could achieve that feat a seventh time this year. He was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year in 2017.
Who Is the NFL’s Longest-Tenured Head Coach?
Tomlin wasn’t even old enough to run for President of the United States when the Steelers hired the 34-year-old in 2007.
Now, he is the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, and he has still never had a losing season since becoming a head coach. Tomlin is just the third head coach the Steelers have hired since 1969.
MORE: NFL Head Coach All-Time Wins Leaders
As a point of comparison, the Carolina Panthers have gone through three times as many head coaches in 26 fewer years. The Steelers are big believers in continuity at head coach.
Tomlin unseats the previous record holder, Bill Belichick, whose 24-season tenure with the New England Patriots made him the league’s longest-tenured head coach until he and the organization parted ways on January 11, 2024.
