College Football HQ

Members of LSU's historic 2019 team land major NFL contracts

Former members of LSU's historic 2019 national title team have signed contracts worth more than two-thirds of a billion dollars with their respective NFL teams.
James Parks|
It pays to have been on LSU's legendary 2019 football team.
It pays to have been on LSU's legendary 2019 football team. | Jake Crandall, Montgomery Advertiser via Imagn Content Services, LLC

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LSU Tigers

It pays to be on a historically-great college football team, as several former LSU players who are now in the NFL have learned during an active free agency period this offseason.

More specifically, several members of LSU’s legendary 2019 national championship team that went 15-0 and ran through the College Football Playoff are putting their names to some very lucrative contracts as professionals.

Former LSU and now Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow signed his second NFL contract back in 2023 and ex-Tigers star wideout Justin Jefferson inked a big deal last summer.

Now, two more members of that famed 2019 LSU team have joined them.

Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase landed a four-year contract extension worth $161 million, making him not just the highest-paid wideout in the NFL, but set a league record for the biggest annual payout for any non-quarterback player.

Defensive back Derek Stingley, Jr., the Baton Rouge native who was a freshman on LSU’s national title team, just signed a three-year extension with the Houston Texans that makes him the highest-paid secondary player in NFL history.

Burrow is making $55 million per year, ranking third among players at his position right now.

Jefferson, the former LSU wideout now with the Vikings, is currently second among NFL wide receivers by making around $35 million per year in a deal signed last summer.

In total, that’s about $666 million to be paid out to those former members of LSU’s historic team, more than two-thirds of a billion dollars to those four elite players.

Here’s a look at the highest-paid members of the 2019 LSU national championship team among NFL players, according to Over the Cap.

Joe Burrow: The quarterback is playing under a deal worth a total of $275 million that pays him $55 million per year, third among his position group.

Ja’Marr Chase: The wide receiver is set to earn $40.25 million per season after signing a deal worth a total of $161 million.

Justin Jefferson: Second among wide receivers, this LSU alum nets $35 million per year on a contract worth a grand total of $140 million.

Derek Stingley: Houston made Stingley the highest-paid cornerback in football on a contract worth $90 million in total money and $30 million per year.

Patrick Queen: The former LSU linebacker is eighth among his position earning $13.7 million per season on a deal worth $41 million.

Grant Delpit: The former Thorpe Award winner earned a starting role with the Cleveland Browns in 2022, earning $12 million per year on a deal worth $36 million.

In total, LSU sits third in the SEC behind Oklahoma and leader Alabama and fourth nationally, behind third-place Ohio State, in terms of total cap dollars, according to Over the Cap’s numbers.

A total of 46 former LSU players are earning $263,842,651, according to the figures.

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.

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