Jayson Tatum vs Shohei Ohtani Contracts: NBA's Richest Deal Compared to Biggest Payout in Sports History

With major sports leagues generating the kind of money never seen before, the salaries of athletes have reached an all-time high. Until yesterday, Jaylen Brown was the owner of the richest contract in NBA history with his five-year $304 million extension. But earlier today, he was one upped by his teammate Jayson Tatum, who bagged a five-year $315 million supermax extension, taking the crown from JB.

But while Tatum has surpassed his co-star and the rest of the league in contract value, he still has a long way to go before he can match the historic contract of MLB star Shohei Ohtani.

Shohei Ohtani's historic contract Just like Tatum did today, Ohtani also created history back in December when he signed an unprecedented ten-year $700 million deal with the LA Dodgers, the richest deal in sports history. As per the deal, he would make $70 million each year, amounting to $33.6 million after multiple tax deductions, including $25.9 million in federal tax and the remaining in California tax, agent fee, jock tax and FICA payments. Despite the massive deductions, Ohtani surpassed the previous biggest contract in league history, which was owned by Angels' Mike Trout with a twelve-year $426.5 million deal signed five years ago.

However, Ohtani's deal was far more complex than that. As it turns out, the two-time MVP had agreed to defer $680 million of his contract and it would now be paid out to him every year on the first day of July from 2034 to 2043 in $68 million installments. With that, he will only earn $2 million in annual salary during his tenure with the Dodgers for the next decade. Surprisingly, it was reportedly Ohtani's idea to go this route because the available money would allow the Dodgers to attract more star players to the team to join forces with Ohtani over the next ten years. And the Dodgers did exactly that as they signed Teoscar Hernandez, Tyler Glasnow, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto soon after the Ohtani deal.

While Ohtani's $700 million deal does seem like a massive number, because of his deferred clause, the net present value of his contract is only $437.5 million after adjusting to inflation and other factors. Regardless, the deal secures Ohtani's long-term future and gets him guaranteed money for the next twenty years. "This is a unique, historic contract for a unique, historic player." His agent Naz Balelo remarked after Ohtani signed the massive contract. While the value of Ohtani's biggest payout in sports history decreases remarkably after tax deductions and adjusted inflation, same is also the case with Jayson Tatum's new contract.

How much will Jayson Tatum earn in his new deal? While Tatum can proudly call himself the owner of the largest contract in NBA history, it also comes with a lot of underlying conditions. For starters, his $315 million deal will begin next year and will likely keep him in Boston until the end of this decade. Moreover, JT also has a player option for the final year of his deal along with a fifteen percent trade kicker, which makes it almost certain that the Celtics have no intention of trading him anytime soon. Opting into the player option will earn him $71.4 million in salary during the 2029-30 season, the highest annual NBA salary ever.

But just like Ohtani, Tatum will realistically not make the number that is displayed on his contract. Out of his $62.7 million average salary, only $25.2 million will reach Tatum's bank account. Well, as for the rest of the money, $23.2 million will be deducted in Federal tax, $4.7 million in Jock Tax, a whopping $8.1 million in escrow and agent fee and the remaining $1.4 million in FICA payments. Regardless, Tatum and Ohtani are still making more than any athlete in their field has ever made and that might be enough to make them happy.