NFL All-Time Sack Records: Single-Season, Single-Game, and Career Leaders, Including Bruce Smith and Michael Strahan

While offensive records fall seemingly yearly, the NFL single-season and career sack records have proven harder to break.

What are the current NFL sack records for individual games, single seasons, and across a career?

NFL All-Time Sack Leaders

Much like with single-season records, there are two sets of records: Official records set after 1982, and unofficial records set with numbers from seasons before that.

The difference here is that the top record spot remains the same on both lists: Bruce Smith, who had 200 sacks between 1985 and 2003.

Here are the top 20 when it comes to official career sacks.

1. Bruce Smith, 200.0 career sacks (1985-2003)
2. Reggie White, 198.0 career sacks (1985-2000)
3. Kevin Greene, 160 career sacks (1985-1999)
4. Julius Peppers, 159.5 career sacks (2002-2018)
5. Chris Doleman, 150.5 career sacks (1985-1999)
6. Michael Strahan, 141.5 career sacks (1993-2007)
7. Jason Taylor, 139.5 career sacks (1997-2011)
8. Terrell Suggs, 193.0 career sacks (2003-2019)
9. DeMarcus Ware, 138.5 career sacks (2005, 2016)
10. Richard Dent, 137.5 career sacks (1983-1997)
11. John Randle, 137.5 career sacks (1990-2003)
12. Jared Allen, 136.0 career sacks (2004-2015)
13. John Abraham, 133.5 career sacks (2000-2014)
14. Lawrence Taylor, 132.5 career sacks (1981-1993)
15. Leslie O’Neal, 132.5 career sacks (1986-1999)
16. Rickey Jackson, 128.0 career sacks (1981-1995)
17. Derrick Thomas, 126.5 career sacks (1989-1999)
18. Dwight Freeney, 125.5 career sacks (2002-2017)
19. Von Miller, 123.5 career sacks (2011-2023)
20. Robert Mathis, 123 career sacks (2003-2016)

The 1985 season was quite the year for the start of pass-rush careers. Four of the top five started their careers in that season. Bruce Smith, Kevin Greene, and Chris Doleman were all selected in the 1985 NFL Draft, while Reggie White was selected in the 1984 Supplemental NFL Draft.

When we look at the unofficial career NFL sack record, it is no surprise that Deacon Jones sits in the top five. Jones had 173.5 sacks in his 14-year career.

NFL Single-Season Sack Leaders

The official record for sacks in a single season is 22.5 sacks by Michael Strahan in 2001 and T.J. Watt in 2021, while Al Baker holds the unofficial record at 23.0 in 1978.

Here are the current top 20 single-season sack records.

1. Michael Strahan, 22.5 sacks (2001)
2. T.J. Watt, 22.5 sacks (2021)
3. Jared Allen, 22.0 sacks (2011)
4. Mark Gastineau, 22.0 sacks (1984)
5. Justin Houston, 22.0 sacks (2014)
6. Chris Doleman, 21.0 sacks (1989)
7. Reggie White, 21.0 sacks (1987)
8. Aaron Donald, 20.5 sacks (2018)
9. Lawrence Taylor, 20.5 sacks (1986)
10. J.J. Watt, 20.5 sacks (2012)
11. J.J. Watt, 20.5 sacks (2014)
12. Derrick Thomas, 20.0 sacks (1990)
13. DeMarcus Ware, 20.0 sacks (2008)
14. Shaquil Barrett, 19.5 sacks (2019)
15. Tim Harris, 19.5 sacks (1989)
16. Robert Mathis, 19.5 sacks (2013)
17. Aldon Smith, 19.5 sacks (2012)
18. DeMarcus Ware, 19.5 sacks (2011)
19. Mark Gastineau, 19.0 sacks (1983)
20. Chandler Jones, 19.0 sacks (2019)

Not listed above is Jones, who posted 22.0-sack seasons in both 1964 and 1968. What makes that number particularly remarkable is that Jones achieved those numbers in 14-game seasons. Jones would lead the league in sacks five times in a six-year period from 1964 to 1969.

NFL Single-Game Sack Leaders

The single-game sack record is another that has stood the test of time.

KEEP READING: All-Time QB Records

The record of seven sacks in a game was set back in 1990 by Derrick Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs. He beat Fred Dean’s record of six in 1983. Since then, four more players have joined Dean with six sacks in a single game, including Thomas in 1998.

1. Derrick Thomas, 7.0 (1990)
2. Adrian Clayborn, 6.0 sacks (2017)
3. Fred Dean, 6.0 sacks (1983)
4. Derrick Thomas, 6.0 sacks (1998)
5. Osi Umenyiora, 6.0 sacks (2007)
6. Khalil Mack, 6.0 sacks (2023)
7. Aldon Smith, 5.5 sacks (2012)
8. William Gay, 5.5 sacks (1983)
9. Aidan Hutchinson, 5.0 sacks (2024)
10. Chandler Jones, 5.0 sacks (2021)
11. Haason Reddick, 5.0 sacks (2020)
12. Khalil Mack, 5.0 sacks (2015)
13. Antwan Odom, 5.0 sacks (2009)
14. Vonnie Holliday, 5.0 sacks (2002)
15. Chuck Smith, 5.0 sacks (1997)
16. Leslie O’Neal, 5.0 sacks (1986)
17. Gary Jeter, 5.0 sacks (1988)
18. Jim Jeffcoat, 5.0 sacks (1985)
19. Randy Halloway, 5.0 sacks (1984)
20. Howie Long, 5.0 sacks (1983)