Listing the NFL's highest-paid coaches is tricky since only a handful of their annual salaries are known via media reports. For the most part, the specifics of pay for NFL coaches is elusive.
For example, six-time Super Bowl champion Patriots coach Bill Belichick is recognized as the NFL's highest-paid coach even though nobody outside of New England actually knows how much money he makes. As recently as two years ago, ESPN reported Belichick's salary was $10 million per year, and Pro Football Talk countered with a report that Belichick was making $12.5 million per year.
MORE: The NFL's highest-paid players in 2020
Other NFL coaching salaries are more openly known. First-year Panthers coach Matt Rhule, for example, is on a seven-year deal that could pay him up to $10 million per year if certain incentives are hit. Rhule's base pay is a reported $8.86 million.
PFT's Mike Florio recently explained why so much about NFL coach salaries remains unknown, and that the highest-paid coaches in the league are actually earning more than what the numbers suggest.
"As one source with direct knowledge of the dynamics explained it to PFT, the highest-paid coaches in the NFL currently are in the range of $15 million," Florio wrote. "The numbers that are reported to the league office are often incomplete, with other compensation coming not from the team but related entities, for general services like 'advertising.'
"The objective is two-fold: To avoid the perception that coaches are overpaid (they’re not, especially in comparison to players), and to keep the market from going haywire."
Forbes in December of last year put together a list of the 20 highest-paid coaches in American sports, including the top NFL coaches. Based on Forbes' list, below are the NFL's highest-paid coaches in 2020. We've added Rhule since he was not in place as Carolina's coach when the list was made.
(All NFL coach net worth figures are courtesy of Celebrity Net Worth.)
NFL's highest-paid coaches in 2020
1. Bill Belichick, Patriots
- Annual salary: $12 million
- Net worth: $60 million (est.)
Belichick, 68, was hired as New England's head coach in 2000. He is justifiably the highest-paid coach in the NFL not just because he has led the team to six Super Bowls and may or may not be the greatest of all time, but also because he serves as the Patriots' general manager.
2. Pete Carroll, Seahawks
- Annual salary: $11 million
- Net worth: $30 million (est.)
Carroll, 69, was hired as Seattle's head coach and executive vice president of football operations in 2010. He has led the Seahawks to one Super Bowl title and another appearance.
3. Jon Gruden, Raiders
- Annual salary: $10 million
- Net worth: $30 million (est.)
Gruden, 57, returned to NFL coaching in 2018 after nine years in the ESPN "Monday Night Football" broadcast booth. He agreed to coach the Raiders, the same team he coached from 1998-2001 before he was traded to the Buccaneers in 2002 and won a Super Bowl that season in Tampa.
4. Sean Payton, Saints
- Annual salary: $9.8 million
- Net worth: $24 million (est.)
Payton, 56, was hired as New Orleans' head coach in 2006. He has led the Saints to one Super Bowl title and another appearance.
5. John Harbaugh, Ravens
- Annual salary: $9 million
- Net worth: $16 million (est.)
Harbaugh, 58, was hired as Baltimore's head coach in 2008. He led the Ravens to a Super Bowl title in 2012 and has reached the playoffs in eight of his 12 seasons with the team.
T6. Matt Rhule, Panthers
- Annual salary: $8.86 million
- Net worth: $20 million (est.)
The Panthers needed to pay the 45-year-old Rhule a hefty salary to convince him to leave Baylor after the 2019 season. Rhule's role in Carolina marks his first NFL head-coaching job.
T6: Sean McVay, Rams
- Annual salary: $8.5 million
- Net worth: $3 million (est.)
McVay, 34, is the youngest coach in the NFL. The Rams hired him in 2017, and he rewarded them with a trip to the Super Bowl in just his second season on the job.
T8: Mike Tomlin, Steelers
- Annual salary: $8 million
- Net worth: $16 million (est.)
Tomlin, 48, was hired as the Steelers' head coach in 2007. He led Pittsburgh to a Super Bowl title in just his second season on the job and made another Super Bowl appearance a couple years later. Tomlin's Steelers teams have made the playoffs in eight of his 13 seasons.
T8: Dan Quinn, Falcons
- Annual salary: $8 million
- Net worth: Unknown
Quinn, 50, was hired as Atlanta's head coach in 2015. He led the Falcons to a Super Bowl appearance in just his second season. Atlanta has made the playoffs in two of his five years on the job.
T8: Andy Reid, Chiefs
- Annual salary: $8 million
- Net worth: $25 million (est.)
Reid, 62, was hired as the Chiefs' head coach in 2013 after he was let go by the Eagles. Reid finally broke through with a Super Bowl title in 2019 after leading Kansas City to the playoffs in five of his six prior seasons with the team.