When the topic of NFL salaries comes up, most fans probably think about the league’s highest-paid players. But what about the opposite end of the spectrum? What’s the lowest salary a player can make in the NFL during the 2024 season? Let’s take a look at the collective bargaining agreement for an answer.
What Is the Lowest an NFL Player Can Make?
For the 2024 NFL season, the minimum salary for a first-year player is currently $795,000. This is an increase over last year’s minimum salary of $750,000 for rookies. It’s worth noting that the $795,000 salary is specific to first-year players, as veterans on a minimum contract earn more based on their years of service.
Just because a first-year player is on a minimum contract with that salary, that doesn’t necessarily mean the player will receive all of that money, though. That’s how much the player will earn if they are on the active 53-man roster for every week of the 2024 NFL season. But if the player gets cut or put on their practice squad, they’ll receive significantly less than what’s listed above.
How Much Does a Player on the Practice Squad Make?
This season, the roster cutdown deadline is Aug. 27 at 4 p.m. ET. Players who are released can be added to a team’s practice squad. The NFL allows for 14 additional players to be on a franchise’s practice squad, giving the team more bodies for practice. Also, those players can be pulled up on game days in the event of injuries or other circumstances.
Unlike players on the 53-man roster, practice squad players don’t earn a salary. Instead, they are paid week-to-week for as long as they are on the practice squad. Similar to the minimum contract rules, the amount varies depending on the player’s experience. Players with less than two accrued seasons will earn $12,500 a week during the 2024 season. If that player spends the entire 18-week season on the practice squad, they’ll earn $225,000 before taxes.
If a player is brought up to the active roster for a game, he would be paid for his service on the 53-man roster that week rather than his usual practice squad rate. The player would earn the league minimum salary for his level of experience but prorated for one week. For example, a first-year player who gets added to the 53-man roster would earn $44,166 (since this is a one-week installment of the $795,000 minimum salary).
A Wide Range of NFL Salaries
The highest-paid players in the NFL are currently Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, and Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. They all signed contracts with an average annual value of $55 million.
While we tend to think of the highest-paid players in salary conversations, there are way more players earning the league minimum who won’t come close to making $55 million throughout their entire career, much less in a single season.