The 20 most lucrative player contracts in sporting history

Golf star Dustin Johnson has just signed a $175 million deal to be the marquee man for Greg Norman's Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour.

Yet that deal doesn't go close to making the top 20 richest sports contracts ever signed.

The mega-deals that belong in the truly elite bracket have been signed by a mix of the world's best footballers and stars of America's biggest sports leagues. Surprisingly, despite its limited global profile in comparison to the NFL and the NBA, baseball's MLS has the most representatives on the mega-contract list.

Here are the 20 largest ever contracts handed out in sporting history.

At the end of the 2019 season, both Anthony Rendon and Washington Nationals teammate Stephen Strasburg entered free agency.

Nationals owner Mark Lerner said the team could not afford both stars, and chose Strasburg, leaving Rendon to sign an almost identical deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

One of the most-hyped pitching prospects in history, Strasburg hit the ground running with the Washington Nationals in 2010 and carved out a very impressive first decade in Major League Baseball, culminating in a World Series MVP award in 2019.

Just a couple of months after that success he was rewarded with the biggest-ever contract for a pitcher, and a seven-year extension with the Nationals.

Miguel Cabrera's eight-year deal with the Detroit Tigers handed out in 2016 made him a record-holder in all of Detroit sports, with the $248 million USD amount the largest handed out to an athlete in the Motor City.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the veteran's body broke down almost immediately after signing on the dotted line and he's not added to his 11 All-Star appearances since 2016.

You've got to wonder just what kinds of figures Alex Rodriguez could've earned if he played now, given this monster extension with the Yankees was signed in 2008.

Rodriguez won a World Series title the following season, but the deal didn't come without controversy either.

He was suspended for the entire 2014 season after his involvement in a doping scandal.

Josh Allen became one of the highest-paid players in NFL history when he signed an extension with the Buffalo Bills in 2022.

Of Allen's $258 million USD deal, $150 million is guaranteed. The guaranteed money is the most in a single contract in NFL history, surpassing Patrick Mahomes' $141.5 (USD) million guaranteed.

Nolan Arenado looked set to remain a member of the Colorado Rockies for the majority of his career when he signed an eight-year deal in 2019, but it all went south.

Just a year later, he requested a trade citing "disrespect" from people within the organisation.

He was eventually traded to the St Louis Cardinals in February 2021 along with $51 million USD in exchange for five players.

After claiming his first Formula 1 world championship in 2021, Max Verstappen recommitted to Red Bull Racing on a monster new deal.

The 24-year-old is signed through until the 2028 season in a massive statement of intent from Red Bull as well as a show of commitment from Verstappen himself.

Manny Machado was already a four-time All-Star and two-time Golden Glove Award winner when he signed what was then the biggest free-agent contract in American sports history in 2019.

The decade-long deal includes an opt-out clause after the fifth season and also includes a limited no-trade clause.

Gerrit Cole was a major winner after hitting the free agency market when he signed a world-record deal for a pitcher with the New York Yankees.

He became the first pitcher in MLB history to earn over $300 million USD, and has the option of opting out of the nine-year deal after the fifth year.

Corey Seager signed a monster 10-year deal when joining the Texas Rangers in 2021, surpassing the previous club-record deal handed out to Alex Rodriguez in 2000.

Seager joined the Rangers after playing a starring role in the LA Dodgers' 2020 World Series win where he was named the MVP.

Giancarlo Stanton thought he'd be a Miami Marlin for life when signing a mammoth 13-year deal with the MLB club in 2015.

Just two years later, the new owners of the team wanted nothing to do with his massive salary and attempted to trade him three times.

After Stanton used his no-trade clause to reject moves to the Cardinals and Giants, he finally agreed to a deal which saw him join the New York Yankees.

Bryce Harper, the No.1 pick in the 2010 MLB draft, became one of the game's highest-profile free agents in the summer of 2018.

Harper signed a monster 13-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for a record figure before it was surpassed. The contract features no opt-out clauses.

After a bright few seasons, the San Diego Padres wasted little time before locking down star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr to a lifetime deal in 2021.

Tatis Jr signed his monster deal at just 22 years of age. It includes a full no-trade clause which will allow him to veto any future deals he is involved in.

The deal is the third-largest in MLB history behind the contracts of Mike Trout and Mookie Betts.

Francisco Lindor was traded to New York after a brilliant first few years of his career in Cleveland, coming agonisingly close to winning a World Series in 2016.

After being traded to the Mets in January 2021, the franchise wasted no time in locking him down for the long haul - signing a 10-year extension just three months later.

Kylian Mbappe became the richest man in football when he snubbed Real Madrid for the riches of Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that was dubbed an "insult to football".

The French superstar will reportedly earn £42.5 million ($74.1 million AUD) per season across three years, and also pocketed a handy £153 million ($266.8 million AUD) signing bonus just for remaining with PSG.

The deal also sees him have full control over his image rights and he will have full say over every hire the club makes.

The second-highest paid baseball player on this list, Betts had become a household name while helping the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in 2018, but was traded the following year in an absolute blockbuster to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After playing for one season with his new team, the outfielder was handed an enormous contract extension, locking him in on the west coast until the end of 2032.

Despite his recent loss to Dmitry Bivol, Canelo has nothing to worry about in terms of his future.

In terms of total earning he is eclipsed by other fighters such as Floyd Mayweather, but when he inked a five-year, 11-fight deal with streaming service DAZN in 2018, it was at the time (given Lionel Messi's contract was still a secret) the biggest contract in sports history.

The highest-paid of all the baseball players on this list, Trout burst onto the scene in 2012 and has gone on to win several MVP awards, despite the mediocre fortunes of his team, the Los Angeles Angels.

Trout, the best player in the sport, was given a massive 12-year extension in 2019, taking him through to the age of 39 by the time it ends.

NFL contracts aren't as watertight as those in other sports, but assuming all goes to plan, the Kansas City quarterback will take home more than half a billion dollars.

Mahomes has been arguably the best player in the NFL over the past three or four years, and was handsomely rewarded in the 2020-21 off-season, with a 10-year deal, with most of the money guaranteed - a rarity in American football.

Early in 2021, Spanish newspaper El Mundo claimed to have obtained a leaked copy of Lionel Messi's contract with Barcelona, which was agreed upon in 2017 and ran until he left the club in June of last year.

According to the report, Messi would receive a maximum of €555,237,619 ($825,957,673 AUD) over four seasons, if a series of conditions were met.