How Much Do NFL Kickers Make?
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How much money do NFL kickers make? We break down the salaries of every kicker in the league.
NFL Kicker Salaries
NFL kickers make a lot of money. In fact, they are one of the highest-paid players in the NFL. The average salary for an NFL kicker is $2.4 million per year. However, some kickers make much more than that. The highest-paid kicker in the NFL is Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens. He makes an annual salary of $4.5 million.
Minimum Salary
The minimum salary for an NFL kicker in 2019 is $495,000.00, with a $25,000.00 signing bonus and a $6,600.00 roster bonus.
Average Salary
The average salary of an NFL kicker is $1.56 million a year, according to a 2017 report by Forbes. This puts kickers in the middle of the pack among all NFL players, who earn an average salary of $2.7 million a year.
Kickers are paid less than other players because they typically have fewer opportunities to score points. In a typical game, a kicker will only be called upon to attempt a few field goals and extra points. Compare that to quarterbacks, who may throw the ball 50 or more times in a game, and it’s easy to see why kickers are lower on the totem pole when it comes to salaries.
Still, kickers are an important part of any team and they can be the difference between winning and losing. For that reason, many teams are willing to pay their kickers handsomely for their services. The highest-paid kicker in the NFL is currently Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, who signed a 4-year, $16.8 million contract extension in 2016 that includes a $10 million signing bonus.
Highest-Paid Kickers
In the NFL, kickers are often some of the lowest-paid players on the team. However, there are a few kickers who are among the highest-paid players in the league. Here are the five highest-paid kickers in the NFL as of 2019:
1. Robbie Gould, San Francisco 49ers – $4.9 million
2. Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots – $4.3 million
3. Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers – $4.1 million
4. Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons – $3.75 million
5. Brandon McManus, Denver Broncos – $3.5 million
How NFL Kickers Are Paid
Most NFL kickers make a salary of around $500,000 per year. However, the highest-paid kickers in the league can make upwards of $4 million per year. Kickers are typically paid based on their performance, so the better they do, the more money they make. Let’s take a closer look at how NFL kickers are paid.
Signing Bonus
Kickers in the NFL can earn a signing bonus when they first join a team. A signing bonus is money that a team pays to a player as an incentive for him to sign with that team rather than another team. Signing bonuses are given out in addition to the player’s salary, and they are not guaranteed. This means that if the player is cut from the team, he will not receive any more of the signing bonus money.
Roster Bonus
A roster bonus, also commonly referred to as a signing bonus, is given to a player for various reasons. The most common reason is that the team is trying to entice the player to sign with them instead of another team. In order to receive the bonus, the player must be on the team’s active roster for a certain number of days during the season. The bonus is usually spread out over the course of the contract and is given in addition to the player’s base salary.
Performance-Based Bonus
NFL kickers who are on the active roster during the regular season earn a minimum base salary of $465,000, according to the collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players. A performance-based bonus is included in that figure for players who are on the roster for at least three games. The amount of this bonus varies based on a kicker’s playing time during the previous season. In addition, each team has a salary cap that limits the amount of money it can spend on player salaries.
Incentives
Incentives are available to players at every position in the NFL, but they are especially important to kickers. A kicker who hits 90 percent of his field goal attempts could easy make an extra $100,000 a year. And that’s just for field goals. If a kicker is successful on 95 percent of his attempts, he could make an additional $250,000.
Kickers can also earn incentives for kicking touchbacks (forcing the opposition to start its drive from its own 20-yard line), or for making a certain number of extra points.
How Much Do NFL Kickers Make Per Game?
The average salary for an NFL kicker is $2.4 million per year. This is the highest average salary of any position in the NFL. NFL kickers make a lot of money because they are some of the most important players on the field.
Minimum Salary
The minimum salary for an NFL kicker in 2019 is $495,000, which is the same as it was in 2018.
Average Salary
The average salary for an NFL kicker is $1.56 million per year, ranging from $605,000 to $4 million. This includes a base salary of $735,000 and a signing bonus of $1 million. The top-paid kicker in the NFL is Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, who makes $4 million per year.
Highest-Paid Kickers
Kickers in the NFL can make a pretty penny. In fact, some of the highest-paid offensive players in the league are kickers. The average salary for an NFL kicker is $2.7 million per year, but some make significantly more.
Here are the five highest-paid kickers in the NFL, according to Spotrac:
1. Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens: $5 million per year
2. Robbie Gould, San Francisco 49ers: $4.25 million per year
3. Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots: $4 million per year
4. Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons: $3 million per year
5. Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers: $3 million per year
These salaries represent the average annual salary of each player’s current contract. It’s important to note that not all of this money is guaranteed – kickers typically have incentives written into their contracts that allow them to earn more based on their performance.
How Much Do NFL Kickers Make Per Year?
The average salary for an NFL kicker is $2.4 million per year, which is significantly more than the average player salary of $1.1 million. NFL kickers are some of the highest-paid players in the league, and their salaries continue to rise as the years go on.
Minimum Salary
All NFL players, including kickers, are paid a minimum salary that is set by the league. For the 2020 season, the minimum salary is $510,000. However, most NFL kickers make much more than the league minimum.
Average Salary
The average salary for an NFL kicker is $2.6 million per year, with a few of the top kickers making over $3 million per year.
Highest-Paid Kickers
In the NFL, kickers make a lot of money. The average salary for an NFL kicker is $2.6 million per year, but some of the highest-paid kickers in the league earn upwards of $5 million per year.
The highest-paid kicker in the NFL is Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, who makes an annual salary of $5.4 million. Other high-earning kickers include Matt Prater of the Detroit Lions ($4.8 million), Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs ($4.7 million), and Greg Zuerlein of the Los Angeles Rams ($4.5 million).
So, how do these salaries compare to other positions in the NFL? Well, quarterbacks are still the best-paid players in the league, with an average salary of $4 million per year. However, there are a number of running backs and wide receivers who also make more than $5 million per year. In general, skill position players (such as quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers) tend to make more money than kickers and other special teams players.
