It's hard to believe that Ohio-born NBA legend LeBron James will make less money playing for the Philadelphia 76ers this season than a certain few Ohio-based Cincinnati Bengals players. While plenty of more handsomely-compensated Bengals superstars like Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase fit that description, for purposes of this exercise, the focus is on a less-heralded Cincinnati trio of Evan McPherson, T.J. Slaton and Jordan Battle.
McPherson has one of the richer kicker contracts in the NFL despite quite the roller-coaster ride since his phenomenal rookie season. Slaton was Cincinnati's biggest free-agent signing last offseason. His lackluster performance in 2025 helped trigger the Dexter Lawrence trade.
Finally, Battle stands on the precipice of a contract year, yet the 2023 third-round pick still makes a little more than LeBron's rounded-up $3.88 million salary cap figure for the 2026-27 NBA season.
Here's a closer look at the Bengals earning more than LeBron on the field in 2026.
Evan McPherson's elite kicker salary easily clears LeBron
This is the penultimate season of Evan McPherson's second contract. He's due to make a top-five kicker salary this year at $4.98 million, which obviously bests King James' pay by $1.1 million or so.
"Money Mac" has something to prove if he wants to stick around beyond the duration of his current deal, though. In FanSided's own Kick Value Added metric that ranks all NFL placekickers on overall efficiency, McPherson ranked 30th in 2022, 12th in 2023, 39th in 2024, and 11th in 2025.
That down 2024 campaign was a big factor as to why the Bengals missed the playoffs and squandered Chase's Triple Crown, along with Burrow's MVP-worthy performance.
So yes, McPherson makes more than LeBron now. That could change if he has another down year. Cincinnati would save $3.6 million in 2027 cap room if they release him next offseason prior to June 1, per OverTheCap.com.
T.J. Slaton's earnings will dwarf those of James
Is there a higher-paid backup nose tackle in the league? Seems unlikely that anyone's beating T.J. Slaton's $9.16 million cap hit this year. The Bengals' unprecedented decision to restructure Burrow's contract may have saved Slaton's roster spot.
Given all that LeBron has accomplished in the NBA, it's still surreal that he took on the veteran minimum. Slaton arguably didn't play well enough in 2025 to merit the NFL equivalent salary, never mind what he's making now.
When Slaton left Green Bay and signed on to play in Cincinnati, he was expected to be a solid run stopper. Instead, he made a negligible impact. The Bengals ranked dead-last in run defense.
That's not to say all of Cincinnati's issues on defense stemmed from Slaton. It's just that, for what he's making right now, Bengals fans expect a higher return on investment. Maybe staying fresher as the No. 2 space-eater in the trenches behind Lawrence is what Slaton needs to bounce back.
Jordan Battle's rookie contract salary edges out LeBron
Pardon me for invoking a third different sport here, but the salary cap hits for The King and Jordan Battle were a photo finish.
Battle checks into this new Bengals season full of optimism with $3.892 million in earnings. Yup. We're going down to the thousandths. LeBron's salary cap figure for the Sixers is $3.877 million.
Only a $15,000 difference. Who would've thought?
In 23 prior NBA seasons, LeBron has made a total of $581,375,548. That's just on the court. Forget endorsements! I share this data to underscore how insignificant $15,000 is to him.
Anyway, now that Battle gets to hit the gridiron at safety alongside two-time Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl champ Bryan Cook rather than Geno Stone, he should be in ideal position to succeed. That could culminate in Battle at least doubling his current pay rate by next season, if not well beyond that figure.
No matter how much Battle could hypothetically open up his short-term salary lead on LeBron — whose two-year contract worth just under $8 million runs through the 2027-28 NBA season — he'll never catch The King.
It's OK. Few people to walk this planet ever will.
Add us as a preferred source on Google