Being a professional NFL player is a lucrative venture because besides the income, you also receive additional financial benefits such as bonuses.
The entire remuneration that an NFL player earns during a season differs depending on several variables like their performance.
Featuring the National Football League (NFL) is the desire and long-time desire for many players and athletes in high school and university.
Those who channel all their effort and time into become the best NFL player would earn a good amount of income and even get your retirement quicker.
If you are ready to put in the work and you’re very enthusiastic about making this a profession, you would want to know what is involved in terms of income you may earn.
The National Football League has a total of 32 professional teams. As of 2018, every team played 16 matches in the regular season across a 17-week duration.
Moreover, each team will have 4 preseason matches.
Educational Qualifications
There is no specificity regarding the educational requirements or qualifications of a player, however, those drafted for the league have all enrolled in a college.
It is estimated by the National Collegiate Athletics Association that the entire number of players in college football is 73,000. The NFL registered 253 players in their last draft.
What this signifies is that the odds of playing football in college and graduating from the NFL are 1.6%.
Income and Salaries
When the debate about the average income the NFL player makes comes up, the amount that mostly comes up is $2 million.
However, this is not a true depiction of things because the averages get muffled by the exponentially high salaries some NFL stars and seasons quarterbacks.
Check this out, you are at a restaurant or lounge with ten players and one of the players is a quarterback player who earns $20 million a year.
The other 9 only earn $50,000 annually so what this group makes on average a year is $2,045,000. Does this add up and have logical reasoning when attempting to understand their income? Nope.
The median wage for all NFL players is $860,000. Not a frayed wage but it is still extremely below the $2 million that gets more media attention.
Putting this scenario in context, a player considered a rookie who only has one year of experience has a minimum salary of $435,000.
A lot of media hype is on the impressively high revenues of established quarterbacks.
Just a few players have deals that they receive above $25 to $30 million per year. The average salary for almost all quarterbacks is $ 5, 766,000 but the median revenue is $1,100,000.
Defensive ends on average earn $2,625,000 and earn a median salary of $847,300.
Running backs can be found at the end of the pay scale. They get jammed up during most matches and only stay about 3 years in the league.
Running Backs earn an average salary of $1,012,000 annually with $630,000 being their median salary.
What Affects How Much An NFL Player Makes?
All 32 teams in the National Football League have a salary threshold or limit that scales the amount of income NFL players receive.
Teams ascertain the amount of money to pay each NFL player while staying in the range and keeping to the coalition that negotiates the remuneration deal.
Apart from the salary cap, other variables can influence how much an NFL player is paid.
Position
The position a player plays can affect how much he earns. A quarterback and wide receiver get the highest salaries.
Those who are paid the minimum are the fullbacks and tight ends.
Experience
The experience a player has or the number of high-profile games a player has featured in can influence his high salary potential.
Check this out, a player whose contract is being renewed by his team suggests that his performance is impressive and appreciated hence he can negotiate for a higher salary.
Health
A player’s health can affect their output on the field of play. Conditions like injuries and general ill-health can negatively impact how you perform during games and you may even miss games.
A player’s inability to play in games due to his unfitness will lower or cut down his salary.
Age
Football is a sport demanding robust physical activities and energy. Due to this, players who are younger have an advantage as the ones growing older will not be able to match up with the pace of the game.
This in turn affects how much they are paid.
Note that there are other compensations NFL players earn alongside their monthly wage.
They include signing bonuses which are the monies they get after signing a contract to compete for a team.
Other compensations are roster bonuses which are the money paid to the player for being in the team’s roster for a specific duration.
Workout bonus is also a compensatory arrangement for players who are involved in several off-season workouts.
Incentives are also compensatory schemes set up for players who have chalked certain milestones or scored a desired number of goals.
Who Is The NFL’s Highest-paid Player?
20-year-old Mahomes is the highest-paid player as he signed what is deemed to be the biggest contract in the history of the National Football League.
He is on record to have inked a juicy deal worth $450 in 2020.
What Is The Minimum NFL Salary?
The minimum salary an NFL player can receive, especially a rookie is $795,000.
