Comparing Juan Soto's $765M Mets Contract to LeBron, Ohtani, Mahomes and Top Athletes
Juan Soto was a generational talent from the moment he made it to MLB, and now he's being paid like it.
ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Sunday that Soto and the New York Mets agreed to a 15-year, $765 million contract.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported in November that interested suitors were prepared to exceed $600 million for the four-time All-Star. He not only blew past that figure, but he also received the highest-ever sum in sports history.
Here's how Soto's deal stacks up among his sporting peers.
Highest-Paid NBA Players
The Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown still owns the title of highest-paid player in the NBA thanks to his five-year, $285.4 million extension. That's the most overall money and biggest average salary ($57.1 million) in the league.
In terms of the 2024-25 season, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry leads the way at $55.8 million.
The absence of a max contract in baseball allows top stars such as Soto to earn sums far surpassing what NBA teams can put on the table. On the whole, though, playing in the NBA is more remunerative on a pound-for-pound basis.
Twenty-seven players in the Association are averaging at least $40 million a year, a group that includes the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James ($50.7 million), per Spotrac. Only four MLB players hit that threshold.
Highest-Paid MLB Players
Soto's contract edges him past Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 10 years and $700 million last offseason. Ohtani's $70 million average salary is much higher, though a massive chunk of that is deferred each year.
Passan reported Soto isn't getting any deferred money from the Mets, who thankfully won't be reliving a newer, more expensive version of Bobby Bonilla Day.
Ohtani's status as a two-way player helps to set him apart. There likely will come a time when another MLB player is matching or exceeding his record-setting salary. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is the next position player on the highest-paid list at $40 million.
Rather than Ohtani, Soto will be a more realistic benchmark when other notable sluggers are negotiating contracts in the future.
Highest-Paid NFL Players
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes continues to set the bar in the NFL with the 10-year, $450 million extension he signed in 2020. No other player has penned a bigger contract.
Mahomes' $45 million average salary has become a massive bargain, though, which is something everyone predicted would happen from the moment the ink was dry on his deal. The two-time MVP is tied with Atlanta Falcons signal-caller Kirk Cousins as the 12th-highest-paid player on average, per Spotrac.
Dallas Cowboys star Dak Prescott reset the market when he got a four-year, $240 million extension. The Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow, Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love and Jacksonville Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence follow behind with a $55 million average salary.
Highest-Paid World Football Players
Soto would have to quadruple his salary to match what Cristiano Ronaldo got from Saudi Arabia-based club Al Nassr. The Portuguese attacker reportedly gets £200 million from the deal he signed in 2023.
Ronaldo's move came amid a spending spree in Saudi Arabia as the country sought to strengthen the Saudi Pro League as quickly as possible with notable European-based stars.
Ronaldo's biggest rival, Lionel Messi, set the financial gold standard with what proved to be his final contract at Barcelona, though. Based on a leaked copy obtained by Spanish outlet El Mundo (via Gabriel Fernandez of CBSSports.com), the agreement totaled $674 million.
The Mets will hope they don't meet the same fate Barcelona did, as Messi's contract was part of a wider pattern that triggered a financial crisis for the legendary club. The effects of that are still being felt years later.