Arizona Cardinals top 15 contracts for the 2017 season

The cost of creating a contender in the NFL isn't cheap.

Especially when that team is full of veteran players.

That's the 2017 Arizona Cardinals.

If you look at the top 15 salaries heading into the season, you see it strewn with high priced veterans.

Over the Cap has a great look at the Cardinals cap numbers for the 2017 season.

Let's take a look:

1. Carson Palmer - $24,125,000
2. Larry Fitzgerald - $15,850,000
3. Patrick Peterson - $13,706,965
4. Jared Veldheer - $10,000,000
5. Chandler Jones - $10,000,000
6. Mike Iupati - $9,700,000
7. Tyrann Mathieu - $8,100,000
8. Drew Stanton - $4,150,000
9. Jermaine Gresham - $3,750,000
10. Corey Peters - $3,660,418
11. Justin Bethel - $3,500,000
12. Antoine Bethea - $3,416,666
13. Josh Mauro - $2,500,000
14. Phil Dawson - $2,500,000
15. Deone Bucannon - $2,452,927

First off, you can see where the Cardinals have heavily invested.

Palmer's cap hit is the third highest in the NFL, so it's quite the number.

Larry Fitzgerald is on the “icon status” contract. He is an astoundingly good, but his contract value is the second highest in the NFL, of course Dez Bryant is the highest, so I can't get too upset at Fitz.

Patrick Peterson is worth every penny he is paid, so that's a great contract, plus right down below him, is Chandler Jones's contract at $10 million.

Jared Veldheer and Mike Iupati are next with almost $20 million combined in contracts.

Mathieu rounds out the top paid guys when you look at big numbers, his contract also is one you'd love to see a little lower based on his playing time, but when he's on the field, he's proven worthy of more.

Drew Stanton's number is astounding. Especially when you consider it in the scope of the overall team make up.

Also, Phil Dawson as one of the top 15 is fantastic when you look at last season.

What name stood out to you?