This is a list of National Football League (NFL) players who have led the regular season in sacks each year. Sacks became an official statistic in 1982 and sacks from years prior do not count towards a player's career total.[1]Michael Strahan of the New York Giants and T. J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers hold the official record with 22.5, which Strahan set during the 2001 season, and Watt matched during the 2021 season.[2] In 2013, the NFL created the Deacon Jones Award to recognize the annual leader in sacks.[3] Since 1982, there have only been two players who have led the league in sacks with two different teams, Jared Allen (2007 with the Chiefs and 2011 with the Vikings) and Kevin Greene (1994 with the Steelers and 1996 with the Panthers). The Chiefs and the Vikings have had the most players lead the NFL in sacks with four. Seven players have been the league leader in sacks twice, while T. J. Watt has led the league three times.
Michael Strahan (left) and T. J. Watt (right) hold the official single-season record for sacks with 22.5.
Jared Allen led the league in sacks in 2007 and 2011.Al Baker is the unofficial NFL record holder with 23 sacks during the 1978 NFL season.[2]The Deacon Jones Award, given annually to the player who leads the league in sacks, is named after Deacon Jones. Jones unofficially led the league in sacks 5 times.
Key
Symbol
Meaning
Leader
The player who recorded the most sacks in the NFL
Sacks
The total number of sacks the player had
GP
The number of games played by a player during the season