Around the NFL

June 29, 2025

Pass rushers getting paid (or not)

Parsons, Hendrickson still waiting

It's difficult, it seems, for pass rushers to get paid these days. The Micah Parsons (pictured) contract talks have gone on for some time, while Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals are still at odds.

Not too long ago, Myles Garrett wanted to be traded (before ultimately agreeing to a new contract with the Browns). But those kind of endings seem rarer than pass rushers traveling to new teams.

Over the past five years, 56 different pass rushers have totaled at least 25 sacks. Nearly half (25) of those players have labored for multiple teams in that timeframe. Ten of them have been with at least three teams in the past five seasons, with several ugly contract disputes (Haason Reddick stands out). Seems like teams want disruptive, game-changing pass rushers, but hesitate to keep them around long-term.

Table, compiled using search tools at pro-football-reference.com, shows all the pass rushers to record at least 25 sacks the past five seasons, sorted by sacks per game. In the top four are the two guys currently trying to secure new contracts, Parsons and Hendrickson.

Table also shows the number of teams each of those guys has played for the past five years. Yannick Ngakoue is the king of moving about; he's played for six teams the last five years, and is a free agent now -- could make it seven in six years if he signs somewhere before the start of the season. Which seems likely.

SACKS PER GAME, 2020-2024 (25-PLUS SACKS)
Player	Sk	G	TFL	QBHits	#Tms	S/G
T.J. Watt	73.5	74	90	155	1	0.99
Myles Garrett	72.0	80	84	135	1	0.90
Trey Hendrickson	70.5	80	65	137	2	0.88
Micah Parsons	52.5	63	63	112	1	0.83
Nick Bosa	53.5	66	71	140	1	0.81
Danielle Hunter	45.0	58	58	77	2	0.78
Aidan Hutchinson	28.5	39	30	65	1	0.73
Haason Reddick	51.5	76	53	86	4	0.68
Aaron Donald	39.0	60	59	87	1	0.65
Matt Judon	43.5	69	49	92	3	0.63
Khalil Mack	46.0	73	56	69	2	0.63
Maxx Crosby	49.5	79	89	130	1	0.63
Chris Jones	47.5	77	50	123	1	0.62
Brian Burns	47.0	81	71	97	2	0.58
Josh Hines-Allen	42.5	74	52	99	1	0.57
Leonard Floyd	48.0	84	45	94	3	0.57
Joey Bosa	32.0	56	34	74	1	0.57
Za'Darius Smith	37.0	66	44	84	4	0.56
Denico Autry	39.0	70	42	70	3	0.56
Harold Landry	37.0	67	53	74	1	0.55
Jonathan Greenard	35.0	65	50	63	2	0.54
Montez Sweat	40.0	76	52	98	2	0.53
Bradley Chubb	26.5	53	26	65	2	0.50
DeForest Buckner	39.0	78	50	101	1	0.50
Rashan Gary	37.0	74	36	88	1	0.50
Josh Sweat	39.0	79	47	86	1	0.49
Kyle Van Noy	37.5	77	46	56	4	0.49
Quinnen Williams	36.5	77	48	92	1	0.47
Leonard Williams	37.0	79	50	100	2	0.47
Yannick Ngakoue	33.0	71	30	63	6	0.46
Shaquil Barrett	25.5	55	29	53	1	0.46
Javon Hargrave	31.0	67	33	57	2	0.46
Alex Highsmith	35.5	77	49	72	1	0.46
Kwity Paye	26.5	58	31	41	1	0.46
Cameron Heyward	34.5	77	54	82	1	0.45
Cameron Jordan	34.5	82	47	65	1	0.42
Bud Dupree	27.5	66	30	50	4	0.42
Preston Smith	34.0	83	34	75	2	0.41
Brandon Graham	25.5	63	35	46	1	0.40
Emmanuel Ogbah	29.5	73	28	72	1	0.40
Gregory Rousseau	25.0	62	46	66	1	0.40
Jadeveon Clowney	26.0	65	37	59	4	0.40
Jeffery Simmons	29.5	75	45	64	1	0.39
D.J. Wonnum	27.0	70	28	55	2	0.39
Vita Vea	25.0	66	33	50	1	0.38
Jonathan Allen	27.0	73	42	87	1	0.37
Nnamdi Madubuike	28.0	76	40	66	1	0.37
Dexter Lawrence	27.5	76	33	86	1	0.36
Dre'Mont Jones	27.0	76	37	57	2	0.36
Dante Fowler	28.0	79	36	44	3	0.35
Zach Sieler	29.0	82	48	67	1	0.35
Carl Granderson	27.5	80	40	59	1	0.34
Zach Allen	25.0	74	43	104	2	0.34
Dorance Armstrong Jr.	26.0	79	28	55	2	0.33
Andrew Van Ginkel	27.5	84	45	72	2	0.33
Daron Payne	27.0	84	49	61	1	0.32

--Andy Richardson

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