Bruce Smith's 200.0 for a career — and a new single-season mark: 23.0 by Myles Garrett in 2025. The official book and the researched era, every season counted.
Read the full story ↓For two decades the single-season mark was 22.5 — set in 2001, matched in 2021. The 2025 season finally passed it: Myles Garrett finished with 23.0. In the researched era before the statistic was official, Al Baker had been credited with the same number in 1978, so the two now stand together across the window line.
| Player | Sacks | Season | Window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myles Garrett | 23.0 | 2025 | official |
| Al Baker | 23.0 | 1978 | researched |
| Michael Strahan | 22.5 | 2001 | official |
| T.J. Watt | 22.5 | 2021 | official |
| Deacon Jones | 22.0 | 1964 | researched |
| Deacon Jones | 22.0 | 1968 | researched |
| Mark Gastineau | 22.0 | 1984 | official |
| Jared Allen | 22.0 | 2011 | official |
| Justin Houston | 22.0 | 2014 | official |
| Deacon Jones | 21.5 | 1967 | researched |
The official career table starts in 1982, the year the sack became a counted statistic, and it has one summit: Bruce Smith at 200.0, with Reggie White two behind. Nobody else has reached one hundred and sixty.
| Player | Sacks | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce Smith | 200.0 | 1985–2003 |
| Reggie White | 198.0 | 1985–2000 |
| Kevin Greene | 160.0 | 1985–1999 |
| Julius Peppers | 159.5 | 2002–2018 |
| Chris Doleman | 150.5 | 1985–1999 |
| Michael Strahan | 141.5 | 1993–2007 |
| Jason Taylor | 139.5 | 1997–2011 |
| Terrell Suggs | 139.0 | 2003–2019 |
| Von Miller | 138.5 | 2011–2025 |
| DeMarcus Ware | 138.5 | 2005–2016 |
The source publishes researched sack totals back to 1960. Add them and Deacon Jones enters third at 173.5 — from seasons the league never officially counted. Researched rows are labeled; the two eras are never mixed silently.
| Player | Sacks | Years | Window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Smith | 200.0 | 1985–2003 | official |
| Reggie White | 198.0 | 1985–2000 | official |
| Deacon Jones | 173.5 | 1961–1974 | researched |
| Kevin Greene | 160.0 | 1985–1999 | official |
| Julius Peppers | 159.5 | 2002–2018 | official |
| Chris Doleman | 150.5 | 1985–1999 | official |
| Jack Youngblood | 144.5 | 1971–1984 | researched |
| Michael Strahan | 141.5 | 1993–2007 | official |
| Jason Taylor | 139.5 | 1997–2011 | official |
| Terrell Suggs | 139.0 | 2003–2019 | official |
| Von Miller | 138.5 | 2011–2025 | official |
| DeMarcus Ware | 138.5 | 2005–2016 | official |
One public season archive covering 18,774 players through the 2025 season. Regular-season rows only — playoff games are excluded, which is why Bruce Smith reads exactly 200.0 here and not the higher number a playoffs-included sum produces — and a traded player's stints are combined once, never double-counted. How the rest of the record book is built: how the ratings work.
More from the record book: how long a pro career lasts, the average NFL retirement age, how big the average NFL player is, average NBA height, the tallest NBA players ever, the shortest NBA players ever, average WNBA height, how many players are in the NFL, how many players are in the NBA, the average MLB player, the perfect MLB season and every perfect season.
Two records, both measured here. Career: Bruce Smith's 200 sacks (1985–2003), two ahead of Reggie White's 198. Single season: 23 by Myles Garrett in 2025 — the 2025 season moved the mark past the 22.5 that Michael Strahan (2001) and T.J. Watt (2021) had shared for years.
Myles Garrett, with 23 in 2025 — the new official single-season record. Before that season, the mark had stood at 22.5 since 2001, matched once in 2021. In the researched era before sacks were official, Al Baker was credited with 23 in 1978 — the same number, four decades earlier, across the statistical window line.
Officially, Bruce Smith: 200 sacks across 1985–2003, with Reggie White at 198 — the only two players near two hundred. Include the researched era and Deacon Jones's 173.5 slots third all-time, from seasons before the league counted sacks at all.
Because the sack became an official NFL statistic in 1982. Everything earlier is research — the source we compute from publishes reconstructed sack totals back to 1960 — so this page keeps two honest tables: the official book, and the all-time list with every researched row labeled as researched.
That is his researched total from 1961–1974, reconstructed from play records long after the fact — he retired before the sack existed as an official statistic, which is the great what-if of the record book. On the researched numbers he sits third all-time, and two of his seasons reach 22, level with the best official years ever played.
That is the game this record book scores: spin real franchise eras, draft the front seven along with the rest of an all-time roster, and chase the perfect season on the 17-0 board.
