Crain's releases list of 25 highest-paid Chicago athletes

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Crain's Chicago Business released their latest list of the 25 highest-paid Chicago athletes this week.

Even though Derrick Rose has been shipped off to New York, a Bulls guard is still atop the list with Dwyane Wade earning the No. 1 spot.

Wade's salary comes in at $23.2 million — the largest in Chicago — but he also nets an estimated $12 million in marketing for a 2016 total income of $35.2 million.

The $35.2 million dwarfs the rest of the Chicago list as the next closest is White Sox pitcher James Shields at $21.3 million. Most of that is salary ($21 million, of which the San Diego Padres are paying a large portion of) and very little is estimated marketing ($250,00).

The Top 10 list includes three Bulls players, three Cubs, two Blackhawks, one Bears and then Shields as the only Sox representative.

Here is the complete list:

1. Dwyane Wade - $35.2 million
2. James Shields - $21.3
3. Jon Lester - $20.9
4. Jimmy Butler - $17.6
5. John Lackey - $16.4
6. Jay Cutler - $16.4
7. Jason Heyward - $15.7
8. Jonathan Toews - $15.1
9. Patrick Kane - $14.9
10. Rajon Rondo - $14.6
11. Miguel Montero - $14.6
12. Melky Cabrera - $14.2
13. Robin Lopez - $13.3
14. Kyle Long - $13
15. Ben Zobrist - $12.9
16. Jake Arrieta - $11.7
17. Alshon Jeffery - $11.4
18. David Robertson - $11.1
19. Jose Abreu - $10.3
20. Leonard Floyd - $10.2 ($9.7 million signing bonus)
21. Danny Trevathan - $10.1
22. Taj Gibson - $9.4
23. Brent Seabrook - $9.1
24. Todd Frazier - $7.8
25t. Pernell McPhee - $7.2
25t. Anthony Rizzo - $7.2

Almost a third of Rizzo's total comes from marketing ($1.8 million) with 19 different affiliated brands including Buona Beef, ESPN Radio, Jewel-Osco (remember RizzOs??) and State Farm.

Crain's Danny Ecker explains how unique it is to see Kris Bryant — one of the faces of Major League Baseball — not on the Top 25 list, but that's due to his $652,000 salary in 2016 despite monster ad deals with Express Men, Red Bull, Adidas and more.

Ecker also provides context for the athletes who were left off the list, including Chris Sale (who was traded to the Boston Red Sox), Dexter Fowler (who signed with the St. Louis Cardinals) and Jason Hammel (who is currently still a free agent). Then there are the guys who left town earlier in 2016, including Rose, Joakim Noah, John Danks, Adam LaRoche and Matt Forte.

Duncan Keith and Marian Hossa are among those who fell off the list despite retaining residence on Chicago's sports teams.

Last year's list looked like this:

1. Derrick Rose
2. Jon Lester
3. Jay Cutler
4. Jimmy Butler
5. Patrick Kane
6. Jonathan Toews
7. Joakim Noah
8. John Danks
9. Melky Cabrera
10. Adam LaRoche
11. Miguel Montero
12. David Robertson
13. Matt Forte
14. Jason Hammel
15. Pau Gasol
16. Taj Gibson
17. Pernell McPhee
18. Marian Hossa
19. Duncan Keith
20. Jose Abreu
21. Corey Crawford
22. Chris Sale
23. Anthony Rizzo
24. Lamarr Houston
25. Jermon Bushrod

Check out more insight on the list from Ecker on ChicagoBusiness.com.

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