NFL's alltime sack leaders: Bruce Smith, Reggie White top list Jacob Camenker, USA TODAYSeptember 11, 2025 at 5:35 AM 0 NFL's alltime sack leaders: Bruce Smith, Reggie White top list NFL players are seemingly rewriting the record books with each passing season, but it will take something special for...
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Jacob Camenker, USA TODAYSeptember 11, 2025 at 5:35 AM
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NFL's all-time sack leaders: Bruce Smith, Reggie White top list
NFL players are seemingly rewriting the record books with each passing season, but it will take something special for any player to challenge the league's all-time sack record.
Several players in the league could challenge for a spot among the top 10. Von Miller (129.5 sacks, 24th-most in NFL history) currently is the closest, but players like T.J. Watt (108), Myles Garrett (104.5), Nick Bosa (63.5), Maxx Crosby (60.5) and Micah Parsons (53.5) have the skills needed to climb the leaderboard significantly in the latter halves of their careers.
Still, it seems highly unlikely any player will again reach the 200-sack plateau, which may allow Bruce Smith to stand atop the NFL sacks leaderboard for the rest of time.
Here's what to know about the 10 men who presently have the most sacks in NFL history.
All-time NFL sack leaders
Note: USA TODAY Sports is using the NFL's unofficial leaderboard because sacks were not an official stat until 1982.
1. Bruce Smith: 200
Smith is the only player to notch 200-plus sacks during his career. It will be hard for another NFL player to reach those marks, considering the former Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders star's impressive longevity.
Smith – a first-ballot Hall of Famer – played 19 NFL seasons after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft. The Virginia Tech product was named an All-Pro first teamer eight times, tied for the most-ever by a defensive player, and logged double-digit sacks in 13 seasons.
The most impressive part of Smith's career tally? He reached 200 without ever logging more than 19 sacks in a single season.
2. Reggie White: 198
Like Smith, White was an eight-time All-Pro and a perennial double-digit sack artist. He is the only player in NFL history to log at least 13 sacks in each of his first four seasons, and he is one of the 18 players in NFL history to record 20-plus sacks in a single season.
White was affectionately known as "The Minister of Defense" and helped the Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl 31 in his fourth season with the team.
White had joined the Packers after spending the first eight seasons of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was a pioneer of the NFL's free agency process, as he was granted the opportunity to test the waters during the 1993 offseason after the NFL reached a settlement with the NFLPA about White's class-action lawsuit concerning free agency.
3. Deacon Jones: 173.5
There have been 22 seasons in NFL history during which a player has logged at least 20 sacks. Jones is responsible for three of those, good for the most of all time.
Jones was named an All-Pro first-teamer every year from 1965 to 1969. During that span, the Rams star racked up 93.5 total sacks, good for an average of 18.7 sacks per season, as part of the team's legendary "Fearsome Foursome."
Jones slowed down in the final four years of his career, totaling just 18.5 sacks with three teams, but he is still viewed as one of the greatest defensive ends in NFL history. He also claimed to have been the one who coined the term "sack," which wasn't an official stat until 1982.
4. Kevin Greene: 160
Greene didn't start a game for the Rams until his fourth season in 1988 but was still a productive situational pass rusher. Once he broke into the starting lineup, Greene was routinely among the NFL's sack leaders, posting 10 seasons with at least 10 sacks while playing for four different teams.
Greene thrived as an edge rusher in a 3-4 scheme, and purposely sought to play in one during NFL free agency in 1993. That's how he landed with the Steelers, with whom he played three seasons and made his first All-Pro first team.
Greene finished his career in 1999 with the Carolina Panthers. He logged 12 sacks in his final campaign to bring him to an even total of 160 for his career.
5. Julius Peppers: 159.5
Speaking of Panthers greats, Peppers joined the team in 2002, just a few seasons after Greene's swan song. The Syracuse product and No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft quickly became a starter in Carolina, logging 12 sacks and being named the Defensive Rookie of the Year in his first season.
Peppers continued to perform consistently as a pass rusher, logging fewer than seven sacks in just two of his 17 NFL seasons. That allowed him to amass 159.5 sacks across his time with the Panthers, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.
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1 / 28Every NFL team's all-time leading rusher, ranked by total yardage (through 2024 season)Dallas Cowboys -- Emmitt Smith, 1990-2002, 17,162 yards6. Jack Youngblood: 151.5
The Rams built a new "Fearsome Foursome" around Merlin Olsen in the early 1970s. Youngblood was one of the key pieces in that arrangement, as he made seven consecutive Pro Bowls from 1973 to 1979 and was named an All-Pro first-teamer five times.
Youngblood spent his entire 14-year career with the Rams and only once logged fewer than seven sacks after becoming a full-time starter during 1973, his third season.
Youngblood is one of just three players to record at least 100 sacks with the Rams along with Deacon Jones (159.5) and Aaron Donald (111).
7. Chris Doleman: 150.5
Doleman didn't make his NFL debut until his age-24 season in 1985, and he took a couple of years to earn playing time. Once he did, he quickly emerged as a star, logging 21 sacks in 1989 and making two All-Pro first teams.
Doleman played in 232 career games and also forced 44 fumbles during his career, good for the sixth-most in NFL history.
8. Alan Page: 148.5
Page was one of the key figures in the Minnesota Vikings' "Purple People Eaters," the nickname given to the team's defensive line from 1967 to 1977. The defensive tackle was a dominant interior pass rusher and averaged just under 10 sacks per season during his 15-year NFL career.
Page was the first-ever defensive player to win the NFL's MVP award. He achieved that feat in 1971 after logging nine sacks – which were, at the time, an unofficial statistic – and three fumble recoveries.
9. Lawrence Taylor: 142
Taylor is the only other defensive player to win the NFL MVP. He did so in 1986, after his then-record-setting 20.5-sack season with the Giants.
Taylor is regarded by many as the best defensive player in NFL history. He made eight All-Pro first teams across 13 seasons and won two Super Bowls as part of the Giants' "Big Blue Wrecking Crew."
10. Michael Strahan: 141.5
Strahan is another life-long Giant. He twice led the NFL in single-season sacks and is one of just two players in league history to record 22.5 sacks in a season.
Strahan played 15 seasons with the Giants and capped off his career with a Super Bowl 42 win over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots. He added 9.5 total sacks to his tally in the postseason, giving him 151 total across his 226 games played.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL's all-time sack leaders: Bruce Smith's record may never be broken
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