With Bradley Beal gone, here are the highest-paid Phoenix athletes

Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are gone, and the ranks of the richest athletes in Arizona aren't quite as rich as they used to be.

Earlier this month, the Suns traded away future Hall of Fame shooter Kevin Durant. More recently, the team reached a buyout agreement with Bradley Beal, who will now be paid $99 million over five seasons to play elsewhere rather than more than $110 million over the next two years to stay on the team. Beal has been a highly paid disappointment since the Suns traded for him two years ago, and now that chapter is closed.

Without him, though, the Valley is short on big-money stars. Devin Booker is still bankable — in terms of his performance and, after a massive two-year and $145 million extension in July, especially his pocketbook — but the rest of the top-paid players in the state bring question marks. The two Diamondbacks players making the most money in 2025 are both out for the year. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has yet to fully translate his massive potential into massive on-field production.

Still, the players on this list hold some promise, including up-and-coming young players with the Suns and Cardinals.

The following are the 10 richest Valley sports stars, listed by the average annual value of their contracts. Some are set to be paid for a long time, while others may be here just for a very short but good time. Note that while endorsement deals may significantly swell an athlete's earnings, those numbers are difficult to track consistently, and we have not factored them in here.

1. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns, $63.2 million

If anyone's the face of Phoenix sports, it's Booker. After signing a massive two-year $145 million extension on top of his current deal — setting him up to make $316 million over the next five seasons — he's also the highest-paid to a historic degree. Drafted in the first round in 2015, Booker weathered lean years in Phoenix while blossoming into the face of the franchise. When the Suns finally got their act together with a surprise run to the 2021 NBA Finals, Booker's ascent to stardom was complete. In 2022, he signed a four-year, $224 million contract extension that kicked in last year — the second time in his career the Suns gave him a suitcase full of money to hang around. After the new extension in 2025, he's locked up through the 2029-30 season, during which he'll earn an estimated $72.5 million.

2. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals, $46.1 million

NFL contracts are funny — and never as valuable as they seem on the surface. So, where you place the Cardinals' franchise quarterback on this list depends on which numbers you're counting. In 2022, Murray signed a five-year, $230 million extension with the Cardinals, which is the value we've used here. Then again, only $103 million of that money is guaranteed. Starting in 2026, Arizona could cut Murray and save more salary cap space than they'd be required to pay him. That's notable as the rebuilding Cardinals try to determine if Murray, a former Rookie of the Year winner who returned from knee surgery in 2023, is still worth paying like a star.

3. Jalen Green, Phoenix Suns, $35.1 million

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, Green was one of the centerpieces of the deal that shipped future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant to the Rockets in July. He's coming off his fourth year in the NBA, in which he averaged a career-best 21 points a game. The 6-foot-4 Green is athletic and explosive, and at just 23 years old, he's a piece the Suns can pair with Booker for seasons to come — if he can play with the kind of consistency that has eluded him so far as a pro. Notably, though, Green is already making a good chunk of money. Next season will mark the first year of a three-year, $105.3 million extension he signed while in Houston, a deal that was panned by some as too big an investment too early. Green can also opt out after the second year of the deal.

4. Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks, $35 million

Heading into 2025, the Diamondbacks shocked the baseball world by shelling out a franchise-record six-year, $210 million contract for Burnes, the top free-agent pitcher available. Burnes immediately started putting up ace-like numbers with a 2.66 ERA through his first 11 starts — and then he got hurt and required season-ending surgery on his elbow. The procedure will keep him out for at least a year and possibly through the entirety of next season, eating up the first two years of his deal in Arizona. Burnes is able to opt out of his deal at that point, though, coming off surgery, the odds are he'll choose to stay put. But whether he'll be the same dominating force post-surgery is anybody's guess.

5. Jordan Montgomery, Arizona Diamondbacks, $22.5 million

Montgomery's tenure with the Diamondbacks has not gone as planned. The Diamondbacks signed him just before the 2024 season to a one-year, $25 million deal, making a big splash just before Opening Day. Montgomery ended up pitching less than 120 innings and posted an abysmal 6.23 ERA. Though team owner Ken Kendrick publicly bashed the signing at the end of the season, which the Diamondbacks wrapped up by narrowly missing the playoffs, Montgomery exercised a player option worth $22.5 million for 2025. He failed to crack the starting rotation out of spring and then required elbow surgery, knocking him out for the year.

6. Dillon Brooks, Phoenix Suns, $21.5 million

Brooks also came to the Suns in the Durant trade. The 6-foot-6 Brooks brings a strong defensive reputation — though he has sometimes gotten into trouble for committing flagrant and technical fouls — and is coming off a year in which he shot a career-best 39.7% from beyond the arc. At 29 years old, Brooks is halfway through a four-year, $86 million deal he landed from Houston. He'll make approximately $21.1 million and $20 million the next two seasons before becoming a free agent.

7. Eduardo Rodriguez, Arizona Diamondbacks, $20 million

Signing Rodriguez was an even bigger splash for the Diamondbacks before the 2024 season, and it has yet to truly pay off. Rodriguez got hurt in spring training and didn't pitch a game until August. He ultimately threw only 50 innings with a 5.04 ERA. As his deal was structured, 2024 was the cheap year. Rodriguez still has three years and $66 million remaining on his deal. He's finally healthy and starting games for the Diamondbacks in 2025, though the results have not been what the team hoped for so far.

8. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks, $19.4 million

Early in his Diamondbacks career, Marte signed a team-friendly extension and immediately played like one of the best players in baseball. A run of injuries then made his deal look iffy, only for the Diamondbacks to sign him to another long-term deal in 2022 worth $76 million over five years. Marte once again played above his salary, earning a third contract extension from the team earlier this year. He's now locked up at least through 2030. Marte has been a consistently dangerous hitter since 2023 and was a force in Arizona's surprising run to the World Series that same year. In 2024, he made his second All-Star team and finished third in the voting for the National League Most Valuable Player Award. In 2025, he's again playing like he should be making more money.

9. Josh Sweat, Arizona Cardinals, $19.1 million

The Cardinals made Sweat the second-highest-paid player on the team in March when they signed him to a four-year, $74.6 million deal in free agency. (Due to the funkiness of NFL contracts, only $41 million is guaranteed.) The 27-year-old is coming off six years with the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he recorded 2.5 sacks in a dominant victory in the Super Bowl earlier this year. Sweat, who has 43 career sacks, will add to a defense in Arizona that ranked in the bottom half of the league in several pass-rush categories last year.

10. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals, $19 million

Coming off a breakout 2024 season that earned him a Pro Bowl nod, the Cardinals lavished McBride with the richest contract ever given out to an NFL tight end, signing him for four years and $76 million. As is the norm for NFL contracts, the deal isn't entirely guaranteed —- McBride has no guaranteed salary after the 2026 season — but it's still a notable pact given that the soon-to-be fourth-year pro has only one truly terrific season. In 2024, he caught 111 passes for 1,146 yards and two touchdowns.