Breaking Down the Money at Every NFL Position

With free agency set to open Tuesday, NFL teams are getting set to lavish the market's best players with large contracts.

In order for fans to figure out how much money their favorite teams will splurge, it's important to know the price breakdown at each position. Who are the highest paid players? Who are the lowest paid players? And who are the guys literally sitting in the middle?

By average salary, the new highest paid quarterback in the NFL is its Super Bowl MVP, Joe Flacco, who will be pulling in $20.1 million dollars.

Drew Brees is in second at $20 million, while the Manning brothers (Peyton at $19.2 million and Eli at $15.2 million) are in third and fourth.

Rounding out the top ten, in order, are Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Matt Schaub, Sam Bradford, Ben Roethlisberger & Matthew Stafford.

And, what of last year's rookie class of quarterbacks? Andrew Luck comes in at $5.5 million, Robert Griffin III at $5.2 million, and Russell Wilson at nearly $750,000.

The average salary for running backs is about $1.5 million, which, believe it or not, ranks below that of kickers and punters.

With the shelf life at the position being so short, it's not surprising to see that teams aren't all that willing to pay big money to running backs.

Only two backs make over eight figures: Adrian Peterson ($13.7 million) & Darren McFadden (10 million). Others that come close to that total are Chris Johnson, DeAngelo Williams and Marshawn Lynch.

Alfred Morris, the Redskins rookie who finished second in the league in rushing, was the fourth highest paid running back on his own team, made $555,750.

On average, wide receivers pull in about $1.8 million dollars, led by Calvin Johnson, who has the largest salary at $18.8 million. Larry Fitzgerald is second with $14.1 million.

From there, the average drops to $11 million with Dwayne Bowe and Vincent Jackson at third and fourth. Devin Hester is a surprising fifth at $10.2 million.

You can expect Mike Wallace, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings and Wes Welker to inflate these numbers once they sign their free-agent contracts.

Although rapidly becoming one of the more prominent positions on the football field, tight ends are among the cheapest paid stars in the league.

Jason Witten and Vernon Davis are the leaders with Jermichael Finley, Rob Gronkowski and Marcedes Lewis rounding out the top five.

Jimmy Graham, arguably the league's most dangerous weapon at tight end, is entering the final year of his original deal and has made only an average of $613,785 per year.

When it comes to the average salary for offensive linemen, tackles lead the charge, followed by guards and then centers. The average salary for offensive linemen is $1.76 million

The highest paid tackle in the league is Jason Peters of the Eagles, who makes $10.1 million. The other tackles making eight figures are Joe Thomas and Trent Williams. Ryan Clady and Branden Albert, both franchise-tagged, round out the top five.

As for guards, Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph of the Buccaneers are first and third, respectively, and they sandwich Logan Mankins of the Patriots.

At center, Carolina's Ryan Kalil is the breadwinner by over $1 million dollars. Rounding out the top five are Nick Mangold, Chris Myers, Scott Wells & David Baas.

The Buffalo Bills big-money contract to Mario Williams leads the list, as Super Mario makes $16 million. Julius Peppers, Charles Johnson, Jared Allen and Chris Long are in the top five, and no one in the top 10 makes less than $10 million.

The writing is on the wall: to ink a significant pass-rusher, teams must be willing to shell out $10 million or more. Somewhere, Cliff Avril is smiling.

The average salary for defensive tackles is $1.8 million, buoyed by Tampa Bay's Gerald McCoy, who leads the pack at $12.6 million.

The Ravens have players three and four on the list in Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata, while Ndamukong Suh (second) and Darnell Dockett (fifth) also place in the top five.

Randy Starks and Henry Melton ($8.4 million via the franchise tag) are both in the top ten, while Raiders fans will be sick to see Tommy Kelly ($7.1 million) at number nine.

The average salary for linebackers is $1.8 million, and the Dallas Cowboys are paying the top two players, DeMarcus Ware ($11.1 million) and Anthony Spencer ($10.6 million via the franchise tag).

David Harris is the top-ranking inside linebacker on the list, making $9 million. Patrick Willis is outside the top ten at $7.6 million.

The average salary for cornerbacks is nearly $1.7 million, and Eagles fans will be dismayed to hear that the top-ranking corner is free-agent bust Nnamdi Asomugha, who is making $12 million.

Darrelle Revis is second at $11.5 million, but that number is sure to increase if (when) he's traded by the Jets. Champ Bailey, Brandon Carr and Cortland Finnegan round out the top five.

The highest earners at the safety position are Eric Berry, Troy Polamalu, Eric Weddle, Michael Huff and Antrel Rolle, respectively.

William Moore's new deal with the Atlanta Falcons puts him at approximately $6 million while Jairus Byrd's franchise tag from the Bills lands him nearly at $7 million.

Is it any surprise that the Oakland Raiders lead the charge in this category, paying about $4 million to their kicker, Sebastian Janikowski?

Arguably the league's best kicker last season, Blair Walsh, is only 22nd amongst kickers with an average salary of $554,000.

Ironically enough, it's the AFC West that leads the way in punting, too, with both Dustin Colquitt of Kansas City and Mike Scifres of San Diego atop the punters list respectively.