Seems like the average tenure in the NFL is around 3-4 years, so the 'average' player gets one contract. IIRC, the league minimum for a 3rd year player is around $800k. I was wondering what the average total gross income would be for a player (like Benny, for instance) who gets drafted but only sticks around for the duration of the first contract. I'm thinking maybe $3-$4 million total. Subtract out at least 40% for taxes, living expenses, house/car purchase, etc. and it doesn't look like there's any way the vast majority of players are 'set for life'. If they're super diligent, they might save $1 million over those 5 years which is not even close to being enough to be 'set', especially for someone in their mid-20s. I hope UK and the FB staff are drilling this message into their players' heads. Get an education, make some important connections for life after football (which, for most, will be only a few years after college) and get a plan together that will set you up for the next phase of life: business, coaching, announcing, whatever.
NFL question: if a player gets one contract only in league, what would the average player make in those 4-5 years (gross)?
- Thread starter gamecockcat
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Jimmy is dead on with this. Number 1 is getting millions most of the time quarantined with a big signing bonus. Seems like 25m or so, I have no idea what the number it drops for each pick. Players really want that 2nd contract.
Your point is well made.
In Stoops tenure only Bud Dupree, Zadarius Smith and Josh Allen have/will have made set for life money. Maybe Mike Edwards is getting there. But the 2nd contract after rookie contract is where you hope to get to make it into "set for life" money.
But the rest have not yet and probably won't be able to not need to work after playing days are over. So they need to have a career goal in mind for sure and Stoops does this for the program.
I know we are speaking gross but net would include a say 40% tax and agents fees. Say another 5%? Back of the napkin calculation but…. How does that sound?
Regardless of what school they came from or what round they were drafted in, these NFL players need to be saving / investing their football money and not blowing it on girls, hangers on, expensive toys, etc. Easier said than done.
Agreed. My OP was about the 'average' guy, let's say 3rd round or lower. Obviously, 1st round picks make several million a year. After that, my impression is it falls off pretty quickly. As another poster said, once you take out taxes (have to pay state income taxes in every state they play in plus resident state), agent fees, union dues, contributions to NFL pensions, etc., the 'average' guy making $800k is probably not keeping more than $400k and, more likely, closer to $300k than $400k. The average player probably makes very little on endorsements, too. While that's a very nice income, if it's only for 4 or 5 years, that doesn't set anyone up for 70 years of retirement.
Here’s a list of UK players in the nfl and their current contracts. You can view career earnings on their individual pages.
After 3 years of playing, each player is fully vested in the NFL pension. The NFL's retirement age for pension purposes is 55. You have to be on the roster OR IR over the course of that year. The more years you play, the higher your pension gets.
Players can access their pension before getting to age 55, but there are penalties associated with that.
The average pension has gone up as new CBA's have been negotiated. And in the past, this pension amount was rather small ($3000 a month).
So the average pension is weighted rather low considering who's actually taking it (all the old timers).
The average annual pension is around $43,000. But it's really over $60K a year for those players retiring after 1998. (They're getting $5460 a month)
But you are right -- for the vast majority of players, having a career ready to jump into after they wash out of the league is imperative.
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Players can access their pension before getting to age 55, but there are penalties associated with that.
The average pension has gone up as new CBA's have been negotiated. And in the past, this pension amount was rather small ($3000 a month).
So the average pension is weighted rather low considering who's actually taking it (all the old timers).
The average annual pension is around $43,000. But it's really over $60K a year for those players retiring after 1998. (They're getting $5460 a month)
But you are right -- for the vast majority of players, having a career ready to jump into after they wash out of the league is imperative.
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It's not about how much money you make, it's about how many bills you got. Applies to everyone in life.
I’ve also read you must get a second contract to be eligible for the NFL pension. I worked with Carwell Gardner at Toyota. He was broke and waiting for his pension to kick in. He had to be out of the league 10 years and was going to draw about 100k. You get no pension if you don’t get that second contract.
Assume 40-50% off the top for federal, state taxes, and agency fees.
So, yea, $2MM left over is not a lot of money for someone who is 24 and has no marketable skills outside of football (not saying this is the case with every player, but it is sadly the case more often than we'd like to admit). Add in the fact that many have an entourage and buy their mom a house and there's not much left over.
So, yea, $2MM left over is not a lot of money for someone who is 24 and has no marketable skills outside of football (not saying this is the case with every player, but it is sadly the case more often than we'd like to admit). Add in the fact that many have an entourage and buy their mom a house and there's not much left over.
If you are trying to make me feel sorry for any of them you are a monumental failure. I played flag football into my 40's and had to pay to play in some leagues, and I was just lucky I was never injured.