Devin Booker, and everyone else: The highest-paid Phoenix athletes

The Arizona sports scene has lost some of its biggest stars in recent years. Kyler Murray is officially gone, with the Cardinals cutting the talented but underperforming quarterback and 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. Preceding him out of the state were Suns stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

That means the ranks of the richest athletes in the state aren’t quite as rich as they used to be. These days, 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 hopefully 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 2025. The 6-foot-4 Green is athletic and explosive, but the 24-year-old battled injuries in his first season in Phoenix, playing in only 32 regular-season games. Notably, though, Green is already making a good chunk of money. The 2025-26 season was 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 next year. After the new-look Suns surprised last season and made the playoffs, the Suns are counting on him to boost their contention chances next season.

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. He was supposed to have returned to the mound by now, but he encountered a setback in his recovery that has kept him out. As a result, Burnes will wind up sidelined for most of the first two years of his deal in Arizona. Burnes is able to opt out of his deal after this season — 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, even if Arenado isn’t close to the perennial All-Star he used to be. So far, he’s been a roughly average player, though the Diamondbacks are clearly better with him than without him.

5. Miles Bridges, Suns, $25 million

In late June 2026, the Suns traded Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neal and a draft pick for Bridges and two picks from the Charlotte Hornets. He’s an expensive rental, as he’s in the last year of a three-year, $75 million deal. Though he’s coming off a down year, in which he averaged below his usual production of at least 20 points and seven rebounds a game, he projects to give the Suns a Big Four instead of a Big Three. However, Bridges reputation remains stained for many fans after he faced disturbing domestic violence charges for abuse of the mother of two of his children. Bridges pleaded no contest to one charge and served probation, while the other two charges were dismissed.

6. 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. Midway through the 2026 season, that has not panned out. Despite having a previous track record of excellence — including finishing in the top 10 of Cy Young voting three times while in Arizona — Gallen currently carries an unsightly 6.36 ERA.

7. Dillon Brooks, Suns, $21.5 million

Brooks also came to the Suns in the Durant trade. The 6-foot-6 Brooks brought a strong defensive reputation — though he has sometimes gotten into trouble for committing flagrant and technical fouls — and enjoyed a breakout year in Phoenix, averaging a career-best 20.2 points per game. However, a broken hand and an arrest on suspicion of driving while high 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 will make $20 million the next two seasons before becoming a free agent.

8. Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks, $20 million

Signing Rodriguez was a big splash for the Diamondbacks before the 2024 season, and it hadn’t paid off — until this year. Rodriguez got hurt in 2024 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 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, and he’s finally started producing like he’s worthy of that paycheck. Halfway through the 2026 season, Rodriguez has been both healthy and reliable, pitching to a 2.21 ERA.

9. 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 $40 million, adding much-needed stability to the starting rotation. Theoretically. Kelly entered the 2026 season with a career 3.74 ERA as a Diamondback and has been a workhorse when healthy, but he’s pitched to a 5.84 ERA halfway through the season. Kelly can add another year to his deal worth up to $14 million if he pitches at least 185 innings in 2027.

10. 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, they opted to keep him. How’s that turned out? Marte hasn’t quite hit to the MVP level he has in previous years, but he’s still an above-average slugger who is currently on track to top 30 home runs for just the third time in his career.