How Much Does a Practice Squad NFL Player Make?

If you’re wondering how much a practice squad NFL player makes, you’re not alone. Many football fans are curious about the financial compensation for players who don’t see much (if any) playing time.

While the salaries of practice squad players are not made public, we do know that they make significantly less than active roster players. In fact, the minimum salary for a practice squad player is just $6,900, while the minimum salary for an active roster player is $30

Introduction

Practice squad players in the NFL are paid a minimum of $8,000 per week during the 17-week regular season, which equates to a $136,000 annual salary. Players on the practice squad are free to sign with any other team at any time, but they cannot be signed to another team’s active roster for a minimum of three weeks.

How Much Does a Practice Squad Player Make?

The NFL practice squad is a group of up to ten players who are signed by an NFL team to its practice squad. A practice squad player can be signed to the active roster at any time, but they cannot be signed by another team. Practice squad players are paid a minimum salary of $8,000 per week during the season.

Minimum Salary

In 2015, the minimum salary for NFL practice squad players is $6,600 per week during the regular season. That’s a total of $107,100 over the course of a 17-week season. For comparison, the NFL’s minimum salary for active roster players is $435,000 per year.

Per-Game Salary

In 2020, practice squad players will earn a minimum of $8,000 per week, or $136,000 for the 17-week season. That’s a nice raise from the $7,600 they earned in 2019 and the major bump from the $6,900 they took home in 2018.

End-of-Season Bonuses

In addition to their weekly salaries, practice squad players also receive an extra stipend at the end of each season. According to the CBA, this bonus is worth $1,000 for each week that the player is on the practice squad, up to a maximum of $6,000. So, for example, a player who spends the entire season on a practice squad would receive a $6,000 bonus in addition to their salary.

How Does This Compare to Other Rookies and Veterans?

The practice squad is a developmental squad composed of up to 10 players per NFL team. These are typically young players who are not quite ready for the rigors of the NFL, but who show enough promise to be worth holding onto. While most practice squad players never see the field, they do receive a salary and benefits. So, how much does a practice squad NFL player make?

Rookies

Rookies in the NFL typically make a league minimum salary. For the 2020 season, that amount is $610,000 for first-year players. Beyond that, it’s up to each team to decide how much they want to pay their rookies.

Some NFL rookies are able to negotiate higher salaries, usually due to being selected early in the draft. For example, the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Joe Burrow, signed a four-year contract with the Cincinnati Bengals worth $36 million. This included a signing bonus of over $23 million.

However, most rookies don’t have this luxury and are stuck with the league minimum salary. So, while it’s possible for an NFL rookie to make a substantial amount of money, it’s far from guaranteed.

Veterans

In the NFL, there are two types of players: rookies and veterans. Rookies are first-year players who have never played in an NFL game before. Veterans are players who have been in the NFL for two or more years.

Players on a practice squad are paid a minimum salary of $6,900 per week, or $ 375 per day. That is the same salary as first-year players and veterans with less than three years of NFL experience.

What Other Perks Do Practice Squad Players Receive?

In addition to their base salary, practice squad players also receive a small stipend for living expenses during the season. This stipend amounts to $8,000 for the season, which is paid out in 17 installments of $470 each. For those players who are on the practice squad for the entire season, this amounts to an additional $800 in income.

Conclusion

So, how much does a practice squad NFL player make? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. While the league minimum salary for a practice squad player is $8,000 per week, many players are actually signed to contracts that pay them significantly more than this amount. In addition, while practice squad players do not receive any game-related bonuses or other benefits that are typically associated with being on an NFL roster, they do receive a small per diem allowance to help cover the costs of meals and other incidentals while they are with the team.