Football is inherently one of the most popular American sports. Fans from all over the U.S. tune in to watch the epic matchups take place every Sunday night. But what would the sport be without its famed announcers, some of which receive salaries far higher than many of the players?

In this article, we’ll discuss the highest-paid NFL announcers, starting with Tom Brady, who is an outlier when it comes to financial comparisons. From here, we’ll list the top 5 next best-paid announcers from color analysts to play-by-play announcers in the modern-day NFL, and list their salaries.

Tom Brady – $37.5 million

Of course, the legendary New England Patriots veteran quarterback Tom Brady receives special treatment for his years of service to the NFL, receiving a $37.5 million contract for simply being a sports announcer. He’s got a lot to learn in the sports announcer’s world, but we thought of giving him an honorable mention considering he is legitimately the highest-paid NFL announcer… just not formerly known as one.

5. Cris Collinsworth – $12.5 million

Falling short of veteran Al Michaels’ pay by just $1.5 million, Cris Collinsworth is another highly renowned NFL announcer, and one of the highest paid at that, receiving a salary of around $12.5 million for sports announcing. In 2009 after John Madden retired from his ‘Sunday Night Football’ role, Collinsworth took his place, serving as a popular color analyst alongside both Al Michaels and Mike Trico, just a few of the other highest-paid NFL announcers… besides Tom Brady.

4=. Al Michaels – $11 million

Now that we got Tom Brady out of the way, let’s move on to the list of highest-paid NFL announcers with legitimate experience (Tom will get better with time), starting with Al Michales with a salary of $11 million, making him one of the highest paid NFL announcers of all time. Impressively from an outsider’s perspective, Michaels announced for baseball, hockey, and even boxing before becoming one of the most well-known announcers in the NFL. Now, Michaels is currently the face of Thursday Night Football for Amazon.

4=. Joe Buck – $15 million

Coming up next is Joe Buck, an ESPN NFL announcer who makes approximately $15 million in salary. Before joining ESPN and announcing for the NFL though, Buck primarily worked on MLB and NFL games at Fox network. While Tom Brady throws a wrench in average announcer pay, $15 million is insanely high, and Buck is only nudged out slightly by his partner in a crime Troy Aikman.

1=. Troy Aikman – $18 million

Very similar to Joe Bucks pay, Troy Aikman serves an $18 million contract as an announcer for the NFL. He is one of two former Cowboys quarterbacks who made a career out of announcing in the modern-era NFL (along with Tony Romo). It makes complete sense that former players, specifically quarterbacks, make the most money when given a sports announcing contract, as part of the high fee that comes with signing the star player and all the attention that comes with it. Still both Aikman and Buck make extremely high pay of around $18 million and $15 million respectively, meaning that theirs is a pretty expensive booth!

1=. Tony Romo – $18 million

Tony Romo, another veteran Dallas Cowboys quarterback now serving as an NFL announcer, makes a salary of around $18 million. Upon retiring from the Cowboys, Romo became the lead color analyst for CBS in 2017. Having such a reputable name and career made CBS want to sign him for exactly that, to which he’d make a whopping $18 million from sports announcing. Before the 2021 season, Romo signed a 10-year $180 million deal which means he’ll earn $18 million a year each season onward from 2023.

Top 10 NFL Announcers and Color Analysts