How much do NFL practice-squad players make? Free-agent DE shares breakdown

Making the NFL is the ultimate goal of any football player with a dream. From fortune and fame to glory on the field, it’s a difficult path for players to be part of this small company of professional football players. After all, there are only 32 NFL teams with 53 available active roster spots and 16 practice-squad spots.

The median salary of an NFL player is $860,000. This includes fifth-string wide receivers on non-guaranteed contracts to atypically massive contracts for star players like Deshaun Watson, who recently signed a fully guaranteed $230,000,00 five-year contract.

Practice-squad players are one injury or trade away from being called up to the active roster, but their salary is significantly different from that of an active-roster player. In a recent video interview, free-agent defensive end Isaac Rochell gave insight into how much practice squad players make in the NFL.

Rochell commented that he is currently waiting for the next team to sign him, but he divulged some details of the pay scale for practice-squad players:

“My first year I was on the practice squad for the majority of the season and I’ll tell you exactly how much I made. Every two weeks, I was making about $7,500. I was getting taxed in the highest tax bracket and I was getting taxed from California as being a California resident. $7,500 for every two weeks and I only got eight of those.”

Rochell went further to explain that being called up to the active roster was a significant bonus for his pay scale:

“I was actually active for four games, and I got a signing bonus, so I was fine, but you can definitely see how that’s really not that much money. Remember, you don’t get paid in the offseason. That’s all you make for the entire year.”

NFL practice-squad salaries compared to NBA G League and MLB minor leagues

While NFL practice-squad players receive $7,500 every two weeks for an 18-week NFL season, their counterparts in other major sports leagues like the NBA and the MLB make significantly more. Of course, with a new partnership, the NFL could treat the XFL as its developmental league and offer more money to football prospects.

According to The New York Times, the typical salary for a G League player (NBA’s developmental league) is $37,000 a year. According to Sports Illustrated, the MLB’s minor league players receive tiered weekly salaries based on their league. For example, Class A players receive $500 a week, Double-A players receive $600 a week, and Triple-A players receive $700 a week.

The grind of being a professional athlete is not all massive contracts and fortune and fame. For many players, it’s a financial sacrifice in the present, hoping to land their dream job in the future. For every massive contract of Patrick Mahomes or Dak Prescott proportions, there are ten times as many players looking for their next big break.