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Which Philly athlete has made the most money? Here’s the Top 10 career earners among current players.

Where do Joel Embiid and Bryce Harper rank among the city’s richest athletes?

Bryce Harper, Joel Embiid, and Lane Johnson
Bryce Harper, Joel Embiid, and Lane JohnsonRead moreInquirer Staff Photographers

Joel Embiid wrote that he wants to be in Philadelphia “for the rest of my career” when he signed a three-year extension with the Sixers on Sept. 20. If he plays out the duration of his contract, he will have been a Sixer for 15 seasons — and been paid almost $514 million.

That got us thinking: Where does Embiid rank among Philly’s highest-paid stars in total career earnings? Even before the new deal kicks in, Embiid is among the leaders — but he’s not No. 1.

Using data from Spotrac, here are the 10 top earners in career salary among current Philly athletes:

Phillies and Eagles earnings are through this season; Sixers are going into the 2024-25 season.

10. Darius Slay, Eagles, CB

Total earnings: $109,766,809

NFL rank: Third among active cornerbacks

Slay spent the first seven years of his career with the Lions and earned $43,939,394 before being traded to the Eagles in the 2020 offseason. He signed a two-year, $42 million contract extension in March 2023 that will bring his total earnings with the Eagles to $65,827,415.

9. Reggie Jackson, Sixers, G

Total earnings: $115,049,304

NBA rank: 58th among active players

It pays to be a solid NBA player for a long time. The Sixers are Jackson’s fifth team after he signed a one-year, $3.303 million contract this offseason. His five-year, $80 million contract with the Pistons in 2015 makes up the bulk of his earnings. Jackson, 34, has averaged 12.6 points in his 13-year career.

8. Zack Wheeler, Phillies, RHP

Total earnings: $118,305,242

MLB rank: 13th among active starting pitchers

Wheeler might go down as the Phillies’ best free-agent value signing of all time. He left the Mets for the Phillies during the 2019 offseason, signing a five-year, $118 million contract. He has posted a 2.94 ERA in his five seasons with the Phillies, including a career-best 2.56 this season and has a strong case for the Cy Young Award. He agreed to a three-year, $126 million extension before this season, pushing his career earnings up to $244 million after his age-37 season.

7. Lane Johnson, Eagles, RT

Total earnings: $138,436,625

NFL rank: First among active right tackles

Johnson has been one of the best right tackles in the game for more than a decade. The fourth overall pick of the 2013 draft, Johnson, 34, has spent all 11 seasons with the Eagles, and his $138 million in career earnings is also the most among right tackles of all time.

» READ MORE: SIelski: From Lane Johnson’s future to Bryce Huff’s contract, the Eagles have some long-term questions to answer

6. Andre Drummond, Sixers, C

Total earnings: $145,098,705

NBA rank: 44th among active players

Drummond is back for his second stint with the Sixers, but his big-payday years are well behind him. A dominant rebounder (and cover-your-eyes free throw shooter) with the Pistons, Drummond made $98 million from his contracts signed with Detroit. He signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Sixers this offseason to back up Embiid.

» READ MORE: He’s a ‘quality teammate’: Get to know Sixers guard Eric Gordon through the eyes of a Suns beat writer

5. Eric Gordon, Sixers, G

Total earnings: $179,769,741

NBA rank: 33rd among active players

The Sixers are the fifth team for the seventh overall pick of the 2008 draft. He signed a two-year, $6.77 million deal with them over the summer. A career 15.7 point scorer, Gordon’s biggest deal came with the Rockets (and then-GM Daryl Morey) in 2019 for $75.6 million.

4. Bryce Harper, Phillies, 1B

Total earnings: $196,579,629

MLB rank: Ninth among active players and 25th all-time in earnings

Harper changed the direction of the Phillies franchise when he agreed to come to Philadelphia on a 13-year, $330 million contract before the 2019 season. After Harper hit a dramatic home run in the eighth inning of an NLCS-clinching Game 5 over the Padres in 2022, owner John Middleton “joked” that he might have underpaid Harper given how good he has been for a franchise that has now been to the playoffs three straight seasons. Oh, and he won his second career MVP in 2021 and has a .925 OPS in six seasons here.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper knows the Phillies’ time is now. But he also believes their window isn’t close to shutting.

3. Joel Embiid, Sixers, C

Total earnings: $214,429,387

NBA rank: 26th among active players

The Sixers last week extended Embiid on his current four-year, $213.28 million max contract, which he signed in August 2021. He will join the $60 million AAV (average annual value) club in the 2027-28 season, when he will make $64.3 million. He has a player option for 2028-29 for $69 million when he will be 34.

2. Kyle Lowry, Sixers, G

Total earnings: $274,705,575

NBA rank: 11th among active players

The Villanova product has had an impressive career: six All-Star selections, an NBA title, and almost $275 million in career salary. Lowry signed his biggest deal with the Raptors in 2017 for three years and $100 million. He re-signed with the Sixers, his fifth NBA team, during the offseason on a one-year, $3.3 million deal.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid’s injury management, Paul George’s integration and more: A question facing each Sixers player entering 2024-25

1. Paul George, Sixers, F

Total earnings: $305,332,086

NBA ranks: Seventh among active players

The Sixers’ big free-agent prize this summer is also one of the NBA’s biggest earners of all time even before his $211.58 million deal. The nine-time All-Star has signed three contracts worth at least $136 million in his career. He will have made $516 million by the end of his current deal with the Sixers after the 2027-28 season if he exercises his player option for $56.6 million.