With Kyler Murray gone, here are the highest-paid Phoenix athletes

Kyler Murray is officially gone. The Cardinals cut the talented but underperforming quarterback, setting off a new and uncertain era for the team. Murray latched on with the Minnesota Vikings, though the Cardinals will still be paying him $36 million this year.

Now that Murray has followed Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal out of Arizona — like with the Cardinals and Murray, the Suns are still paying Beal to play somewhere else — the ranks of the richest athletes in the state aren’t quite as rich as they used to be.

Now, it’s just Devin Booker and then everyone else.

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, 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. Jalen Green, 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 24 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. This season is 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. As the new-look Suns have surprised this season, Green has missed some time this year due to injury, though he’s had some big moments when he’s been healthy.

3. Corbin Burnes, 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. Recovering from the procedure is expected to keep him out until midway through the 2026 season, eating up most of 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.

4. Nolan Arenado, Diamondbacks, $30.5 million

One of the greatest third basemen ever, the 34-year-old Arenado is sure getting paid like it. Except that only a fraction of his salary is actually being paid by the Diamondbacks. The Colorado Rockies, Arenado’s original squad, picked up a hefty chunk of his eight-year, $260 million deal when they traded Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 2021 season. The Cardinals, who added an extra year to Arenado’s deal, similarly ate a chunk of money when they sent Arenado to the Diamondbacks this offseason. As a result, the Diamondbacks will pay only $11 million to Arenado over the next two seasons. That’s a bargain — if Arenado is close to the perennial All-Star he used to be. The veteran’s most recent season suggests a decline has set in.

5. Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks, $22 million

A rotation mainstay for the last several years in Arizona, it seemed as if Gallen would be pitching for someone else in 2026 after hitting free agency. However, the right-handed starting pitcher struggled last season and his market languished. Instead of securing a long-term contract, he opted to re-sign with the Diamondbacks for one year and $22.025 million, with the hopes that a strong year will vault him into a lavish multi-year deal next offseason. If Gallen does bounce back to form — Gallen has finished in the top 10 of Cy Young voting three times while in Arizona — both he and the Diamondbacks will benefit.

6. Dillon Brooks, 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 enjoying a breakout year in Phoenix, averaging a career-best 20.9 points per game. However, a broken hand and a recent arrest on suspicion of driving while high have put a damper on his first year with the Suns. At 30 years old, Brooks is halfway through a four-year, $86 million deal he landed from Houston. He’s making approximately $21.1 million this season and will make $20 million the next two seasons before becoming a free agent.

7. Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks, $20 million

Signing Rodriguez was a big splash for the Diamondbacks before the 2024 season, and it has yet to truly pay off. Rodriguez got hurt in spring training that year 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 made $20 million last year and, though he stayed mostly healthy, pitched to another ERA above 5.00. He still has two years and $46 million remaining on his deal. The Diamondbacks hope they’ll finally get their money’s worth in 2026.

8. Merrill Kelly, Diamondbacks, $20 million

As the Diamondbacks underperformed last year, they shipped Kelly away to the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline. This past offseason, they reunited. The 37-year-old signed with the team for two years and $20 million, adding much-needed stability to the starting rotation. Kelly has a career 3.74 ERA as a Diamondback and has been a workhorse when healthy, though he may start the 2026 season on the injured list. Kelly can add another year to his deal worth up to $14 million if he pitches at least 185 innings in 2027.

9. Ketel Marte, 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 last 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. He made the All-Star team the last two years and finished third in the voting for the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 2024. Though the Diamondbacks flirted with trading him this past offseason in order to shore up other weaknesses, he figures again to be quite the bargain in 2026.

10. Josh Sweat, Cardinals, $19.1 million

The Cardinals made Sweat the second-highest-paid player on the team in 2025 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 was guaranteed.) In his first year in Arizona, the 28-year-old recorded a career-best 12 sacks and four forced fumbles. However, he may not be long for the Valley — after the Cardinals fired head coach Jonathan Gannon earlier this year, Sweat’s name has featured prominently in trade rumors.