Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led all NFL players in licensing royalties for the 2023 season.
The three-time Super Bowl champion pulled in $3.6 million on royalties, ranging from jerseys and trading cards to plush toys and other merchandise, according to documents filed by the NFL Players Association to the U.S. Government and obtained by cllct.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Bills QB Josh Allen finished second and third, bringing in $2.6 and $2.5 million, respectively.
Mahomes teammate Travis Kelce, undoubtedly boosted by his relationship with Taylor Swift, finished fourth with $2.4 million, and Trevor Lawrence rounded out the top five, taking in $2.3 million.
Three others, including one retired legend, pulled in more than $2 million. Two are Cowboys, linebacker Micah Parsons ($2.1 million) and quarterback Dak Prescott ($2.02 million), and the other seems to be just as relevant as he was in his playing days: Peyton Manning ($2.09 million).
The report encompasses royalties earned from March 1, 2023 to Feb 29, 2024.
While Chiefs players basked in royalties, no team took more of a hit than the Los Angeles Rams. While rookie sensation Puka Nacua made out well, as one of the league's top 25 earners among receivers, the Rams' most-known duo plummeted.
Matthew Stafford fell from one of the NFL's highest earners ($1.62 million in 2022) to one of the league's lowest earning QBs ($155,051), earning less than league backups Jaren Hall, Trey Lance and Sean Clifford, and even less than Matt Corral, who currently plays for the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL. Stafford's running mate, receiver Cooper Kupp, saw his royalties shrink by 98 percent, dropping from more than $1.2 million to just $23,013.
Among the biggest gainers were Hurts (+$1.8 million), Kelce (+$1.5 million), Mahomes (+$1.2 million), Allen (+$1.1 million) and Christian McCaffrey (+$1.1 million).
The largest decline was Tom Brady, who in the 2022 report pulled in an all-time single-season record of $6.8 million in licensing royalties. In his first season out of the league, Brady earned $651,938.
Tough times in Denver resulted in a massive swing for Russell Wilson, who only pulled in $363,788, down $1.2 million from in 2022. Ezekiel Elliott, in his first year out of Dallas, saw his licensing royalties fall 82 percent from $500,000 to less than $100,000.
Lamar Jackson, the league’s reigning MVP, didn’t crack the top 75, earning $306,671.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectible market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct.