Every team in the AFL this season has enjoyed a boost of more than half a million dollars to their existing salary caps of $13.54 million to be spread across the players. Here we take a look at the highest-paid players in the Australian Football League and reveal just how much they’re each taking home.
Each player offers a different element to their sides; captains, leaders, goal-scorers and A-grade defenders, here we explore the world of Aussie Rules and check out some of the world’s greatest players, and the steps they took in their careers to get here.
In this Highest Paid AFL Players article
Dustin Martin
Richmond
Annual Salary: $1.3 million
A three-time premiership-winning star, Dustin Martin is undoubtedly one of the greatest AFL players in history. Since making his debut in 2010, Martin has been a stalwart within this league, scoring 324 goals in 286 games.
In 2017, Martin signed a mega $ 9 million contract across seven years at the peak of his powers; Martin won the Brownlow Medal in 2017 with 36 votes – the highest amount since 1977 – as he guided Richmond to AFL Grand Final, winning their first premiership in 37 years.
Martin’s $1.3 million-a-year deal makes him the highest-paid AFL player of 2023.
Jeremy McGovern
West Coast Eagles
Annual Salary: $1.2 million
West Coast star Jeremy McGovern had a busy 2018; the defender signed a five-year deal worth $6 million and guided the West Coast Eagles to the AFL premiership in the same year.
Since then, the four-time All Australian has suffered serious injuries that have kept the Eagles player out of the starting team. Fans will hope a return to the fray in 2023 will allow McGovern to rediscover his best form to lift the Perth club off the bottom of the table.
Tim Kelly
West Coast Eagles
Annual Salary: $1.2 million
West Coast’s everpresent midfield maestro, Tim Kelly penned a five-year contract worth $6 million ahead of the 2020 season, making him the third highest-paid player in AFL.
Kelly has been West Coast’s standout player this year, in a less-than-impressive 2023 season that sees the Perth club bottom of the table with two wins from 20.
Kelly will be crucial for the Eagles as they aim to ascend up the ladder.
Nat Fyfe
Fremantle Dockers
Annual Salary: $1.15 million
The Fremantle forward Nat Fyfe signed a six-year, $7 million contract in 2017 after he was named captain of the Western Australian team.
Since making his debut in 2010, Fyfe has scored 173 goals in 218 games and won the Brownlow Medal in 2015 and 2019. Fyfe extended his stay with Fremantle by two extra years in June 2023, coming in as the fourth highest-paid AFL player banking $1.15 million annually.
Marcus Bontempelli
Western Bulldogs
Annual Salary: $1 million
A four-time All Australian and four-time Charles Sutton Medallist, Marcus Bontempelli is one of the AFL’s best midfielders.
Bontempelli first won the AFL premiership in 2016, starting in the Dogs’ midfield in the Grand Final against Sydney; he was just 20 years old.
The Western Bulldogs captain signed a four-year contract worth $4 million in 2021, that will keep Bontempelli at the Melbourne side until 2025.
Clayton Oliver
Melbourne
Annual Salary: $1 million
Clayton Oliver committed t0 Melbourne for the rest of his playing career, signing a mammoth seven-year deal worth a total of $7 million; the 26-year-old would have left the club on a free transfer but showed a real signal of intent to stay with the Victorian team where he’s made his name.
A two-time All Australian, Oliver has played all his competitive footy with one team, Melbourne, since making his AFL debut in 2016, scoring 50 goals across 157 games.
Oliver won the AFL Premiership in 2021 with Melbourne.
Stephen Coniglio
Greater Western Sydney Giants
Annual Salary: $1 million
Giants captain Stephen Coniglio signed a monster seven-year deal with the Western Sydney side in 2019, worth a total of $7 million.
It was reported Coniglio rejected offers from rivals Hawthorn and Carlton to commit himself to the Sydney side. Injuries have hindered Coniglio’s progress since, but will be hoping to rediscover some of his best form and start repaying the faith shown in him.
Lachie Whitfield
Greater Western Sydney Giants
Annual Salary: $1 million
In 2020, just a year on from the bumper Coniglio deal, GWS continued on their spree to retain their best talent, securing the signature of talented medium defender Lachie Whitfield on a seven-year contract worth $7 million contract.
The 2018 All Australian has been everpresent for his side since making his debut in 2013, and finished runners-up in 2019, falling to Richmond in the 2019 Grand Final.
Jeremy Cameron
Geelong Cats
Annual Salary: $950,000
Jeremy Cameron’s memorable 2019 season took GWS to their first-ever AFL Grand Final in the club’s history, kicking a career-high 3.3 goals per game on their way to the final – GWS fell short in the final, but it was enough for the Cats to take notice.
The Coleman Medallist and three-time All Australian signed a five-year deal with Geelong worth around $4.75 million in 2021, meaning Cameron was taking home just shy of a million dollars a year.
In 2022, Cameron’s side beat Sydney in the Grand Final, to lift his first AFL premiership.
Tom Lynch
Richmond
Annual Salary: $928,000
Richmond pinched Tom Lynch on a seven-year deal worth $6.5 million in 2018, keeping the 30-year-old at the Melbourne-based side until 2025.
The key forward has gone from strength to strength, winning back-to-back premierships in 2019 and 2020, and arguably delivered his finest season in AFL during the 2022 season.
Patrick Cripps
Carlton
Annual Salary: $900,000
“Bagger for life,” Carlton secured the services of their club captain Patrick Cripps for the rest of his playing days, signing a six-year deal worth $5.4 million in 2021.
The three-time All Australian has been a stalwart for his side since making his AFL debut in 2014, scoring 92 goals in 178 games and even added a memorable Brownlow Medal to his already impressive resume in 2022.