Heaviest NFL Players of All Time

Over the last few decades, both the NFL as a whole and NFL players have gotten bigger and bigger.

Heaviest NFL Players of All Time

New England Patriots defensive end Ted Washington

In the early 1960s, Roger Brown of the Detroit Lions became the NFL’s first 300-pound player. Some 60 years later, every team is loaded with 300 pounders along their offensive and defensive lines. It’s no secret that football players have gotten bigger, faster, stronger and heavier over the years — that goes for every level of football.

But who is the heaviest player, ever, at the highest level of football?

It took another 50 years before a player passed the 400-pound mark in the NFL but it probably won't be long before another joins those ranks. Here are the 15 heaviest players in NFL history.

15. Leonard Davis — 360 Pounds

Position: Offensive tackle/guard

Years active: 2001-12

Teams: Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers

Bottom Line: Leonard Davis

The highest-drafted player on this list at No. 2 overall in 2001, Davis is also one of the most accomplished. He was a three-time Pro Bowler with the Cowboys and also had another honor during 2007. Then, Forbes listed him as the highest-paid NFL player as he collected over $25 million in earnings from July 2006 to June 2007.

You could refer to Davis as “heavy” in more than just one way as late in his football career, he joined a heavy metal band with some Cowboys teammates. The band was called Free Reign and featured fellow linemen Marc Colombo (315 pounds) and Cory Procter (308 pounds).

14. Anthony Rush — 361 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Defensive tackle

Years active: 2019-22

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons

Bottom Line: Anthony Rush

At the 2019 pro day for UAB, Anthony Rush weighed in at 352 pounds as a 22-year-old. But he added nine pounds during his NFL run to get up to 361 on his 6-foot-4 frame.

He is the definition of an NFL journeyman — he played in regular-season games for five teams in four seasons and was part of the practice squad for four more teams. That’s nine organizations in just four years, and Rush’s last stint was with the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad in Dec. 2022 before he was waived by the team in Jan. 2023.

14. Rolando Cantu — 361 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2005

Teams: Arizona Cardinals

Bottom Line: Rolando Cantu

The Mexican-born Rolando Cantu had a unique path to the NFL. He was born and raised in Mexico but went to school in Texas, thus crossing the border each day. Because of his immense size as a youth, he had to bring his birth certificate with him everywhere to prove his age.

Cantu played college football in Mexico, then played in NFL Europe before making it to the NFL for all of one career game. Still, he became the first athlete to come up through the Mexican collegiate system to play in the NFL. He has remained with the Cardinals since his playing days ended, doing Spanish commentary for the team. He also holds an administrative role with the team as Manager of International Business Ventures.

12. Mekhi Becton — 363 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2020-present

Teams: New York Jets

Bottom Line: Mekhi Becton

At just 24 years old, Mekhi Becton still has time to pack more pounds onto his 6-foot-7 frame. He blocked for Lamar Jackson as an 18-year-old true freshman at Louisville, and now he’s being tasked to protect Aaron Rodgers with the Jets.

But Becton struggled staying on the field, with his weight possibly playing a role in that. He only played in 15 of a possible 50 games in his first three seasons as a number of knee injuries kept him sidelined. He weighed as much as 390 pounds while at Louisville, so he’s lost 27 pounds since then, but the Jets would like him to lose even more weight as a means to protect their nearly 40-year-old quarterback.

12. Orlando Brown Jr. — 363 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2018-present

Teams: Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals

Bottom Line: Orlando Brown Jr.

The son of former NFL lineman Orlando Brown, Orland Brown Jr. has four pounds on his late father, and while dad ended his career with the Baltimore Ravens, Orlando Brown Jr. began his with the Ravens in 2018.

He has since gone onto the Chiefs and Bengals, meaning he’s protected the NFL’s elite quarterbacks in Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. Brown is a four-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion, and the $33.7 million he’s making in 2023 is the most among offensive tackles in the NFL.

10. Jordan Mailata — 365 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2020-present

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles

Bottom Line: Jordan Mailata

Australian-born Jordan Mailata began his athletic career in rugby, but his club didn’t think he could physically keep up with the pace of the sport. He was actually told to “play a sport that would appreciate” his 6-foot-8 size, and American football is that sport. Even though he weighs 365 pounds, he carries it well with under 20% body fat.

Mailata tried out for the NFL alongside other international prospects and the Eagles took a chance on him in the last round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He became the second player to be drafted with no high school or college experience, made his NFL debut in 2020, then signed a $64 million contract in 2021.

10. Ted Washington — 365 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Defensive tackle

Years active: 1991-2007

Teams: San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns

Bottom Line: Ted Washington

A second-generation NFL player, Ted Washington’s father played in the 1970s and 1980s and was big for a linebacker at 245 pounds. But the younger Washington was nearly two times his dad’s weight and one of the best run stuffers of the 1990s and 2000s. He made four Pro Bowls, was a 2001 first-team NFL All-Pro, and won a Super Bowl with the 2003 Patriots. What made Washington amazing was his durability — at 6-foot-5 and 365 pounds, his 236 career games are the fourth-most in NFL history by a defensive lineman.

8. Char-ron Dorsey — 367 Pounds

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2001-02

Teams: Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans

Bottom Line: Char-ron Dorsey

Char-ron Dorsey had issues with his weight stemming back to college, where he was demoted to third string at Florida State for being too heavy.

Dorsey eventually worked his way back to starter, but shortly after being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, he left training camp after feeling pressure from the coaches to lose more weight. He was 390 pounds at his heaviest during the offseason but slimmed down to 367 pounds come the regular season. Dorsey played 10 games with the Cowboys, but early in his second season his weight issues became unmanageable and Dallas waived him.

Dorsey concluded his 12-game NFL career with two appearances with the Houston Texans in their inaugural 2002 season.

7. Terrence Cody — 370 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Defensive tackle

Years active: 2010-14

Teams: Baltimore Ravens

Bottom Line: Terrance Cody

Nicknamed Mt. Cody while in college, Terrence Cody weighed as much as 410 pounds while in junior college. He shed some pounds to then transfer to Alabama, where he was a two-time All-American and became a second-round draft pick. He played at 370 in the NFL, where he had a nondescript career and is best remembered for what happened off the field than on it.

Early in 2015, Cody was indicted on animal cruelty charges, including illegally possessing an alligator. He never played another NFL game afterwards and was eventually sentenced to nine months in jail.

7. Mike Williams — 370 Pounds (Tie)

Position: Offensive tackle/guard

Years active: 2002-05, 2009

Teams: Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins

Bottom Line: Mike Williams

There have been a dozen or so “Michael Williams” in the NFL, but this one was appropriately nicknamed Big Mike Williams.

He stood 6-foot-6 and overlapped at the University of Texas with Leonard Davis, meaning the Longhorns had two of the 15 heaviest NFL players of all-time on the same offensive line.

Williams was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2002 draft but is considered one of the biggest draft busts of all time. He was tried at right tackle, then left tackle, then guard and even played some defensive line as coaches attempted to find a position he could excel at. He disappointed at all of them, spent three years out of football (2006-08) and also disappointed in a brief 2009 comeback.

5. Marquan McCall — 379 Pounds

Position: Defensive tackle

Years active: 2022-present

Teams: Carolina Panthers

Bottom Line: Marquan McCall

At 6-foot-3, Marquan McCall is the shortest player on this list. He committed to the University of Kentucky as an offensive lineman but they converted him to the defensive line and the move paid off.

Though he was undrafted in 2022, he found a home with the Carolina Panthers, where he played in 16 of 17 games as a rookie. He’s considered a building block in the Panthers defense and is a biscuit shy of weighing exactly twice as much as teammate and 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young (194 pounds).

4. Trent Brown — 380 Pounds

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2015-present

Teams: San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders

Bottom Line: Trent Brown

All it took was a pair of joint practices and one preseason game in 2015 for future Hall of Famer Von Miller to label Trent Brown as the player who gave him the most trouble. That was after Brown was a seventh-round draft pick due to an unimpressive college career where he started just 11 games.

Fast forward four years later to 2019 and Brown became the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history. He has unparalleled physical gifts, as at times during his NFL career he’s held the honor of being the tallest player (6-foot-8), the heaviest player (380 pounds) and having the longest wingspan at almost 88 inches.

3. Daniel Faalele — 384 Pounds

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2022-present

Teams: Daniel Faalele

Bottom Line: Daniel Faalele

The youngest player on this list, entering the 2023 NFL season at 23 years old, Daniel Faalele still has time to pack on more size to his 6-foot-9 frame. He is the heaviest active NFL player and can attribute much of his size to his father, who was 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds.

Faalele hails from Melbourne, Victoria, and is one of 20 Australians to play in the NFL. He played rugby union and basketball growing up but was then recruited to the gridiron. He played just one year of football in high school at IMG Academy but still landed a scholarship to the University of Minnesota. There, he scored a touchdown in his final game and is believed to be the heaviest player to ever score a touchdown at the FBS level.

2. Bryant McKinnie — 386 Pounds

Bryant McKinnie, Reggie Wayne — Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie and Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne talk following

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2002-13

Teams: Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins

Bottom Line: Bryant McKinnie

Unlike most on this list, Bryant McKinnie wasn’t massive as a youth — he was actually a sprinter on his high school track team. But the weight came on gradually as his 6-foot-8 frame began to fill out. He gained 70 pounds in JUCO and made the switch from defensive lineman to offensive lineman. It proved to be the right change as he became a national champion at the University of Miami, a first-round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, a Pro Bowl selection and a Super Bowl champion.

Despite his accomplishments, McKinnie is infamous around NFL circles for a couple of things. He was part of the Vikings’ notorious Love Boat scandal, and he also allowed a sack that injured Brett Favre and ended his NFL-record ironman streak.

1. Aaron Gibson — 410 Pounds

Position: Offensive tackle

Years active: 2000-04

Teams: Detroit Tigers, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears

Bottom Line: Aaron Gibson

Aaron Gibson’s weight gain to becoming the NFL’s first 400-pounder began in college at Wisconsin. He grew up poor and never had reliable meals, so when he got to college and saw the constant supply of food available, he never missed a meal. He guesses he ate 20,000 to 30,000 calories a day while at Wisconsin and weighed in at 386 pounds at the 1999 NFL combine — which remains a record.

The added weight continued as a professional and by the time Gibson landed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2002, he clocked in at 410 pounds. As you’d expect, his body then began to break down and his last NFL game came at 27 years old in 2004. However, the eating didn’t stop and he topped out at 480 pounds in retirement. Gibson eventually was able to reverse course and commit to a healthier lifestyle by eating better and exercising. He decreased his weight down to 290 pounds which he hadn’t been since a high school sophomore.