These are the lowest-paid players in the NFL: Is there a minimum salary in American football?

As the College Football Playoffs reach a conclusion, many of the stars will be dreaming of graduating to the ranks of the professional game. A move to the NFL takes players to the pinnacle of the sport, with adoration, fame and generational wealth on offer for the very best.

But that isn’t the reality for every player in the NFL. Quarterback contracts worth tens of millions of dollars per season will always get the headlines, but most first-year players entering the league will only earn a fraction of that.

Each season the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) designates a minimum salary, the absolute lowest that a player on the roster of an NFL team can earn across the season. The minimum salary for the 2024 NFL season is $795,000, far in excess of what most people can ever hope to earn but still a long way from the league’s biggest stars.

However this figure does increase with time and NFL veterans with seven or more years under their belts will receive a minimum annual salary of $1,210,000.

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Who are the lowest-paid players in the NFL?

While there is a fairly generous minimum salary imposed by the league, that only applies to players who remain a part of the team’s 53-man active roster throughout the 2024 season. For many of the low-earning, fringe players that is pretty unlikely.

There is always the chance that they could be dropped to the practice squad, or cut entirely. If that’s the case they will earn significantly less than the league’s minimum.

The salary will be paid on a pro-rata basis for each week that they are in the active roster, in the practice squad players with less than two years in the league will earn just $12,500 a week. That means that players who spend the entire year - all 18 weeks of regular season action - in the practice squad will earn $225,000 across an entire season. Before tax.

There are a few players who remained on the practice squad throughout 2024 and so have not earnt any additional money. The likes of Andre Baccellia (Arizona Carindals), C.J. Ravenell (Baltimore Ravens) and Dayton Wade (Baltimore Ravens) are all set to earn $222,500 from their 2024 season in the NFL.

A practice squad player getting a callup to the active roster will receive a significant increase on their weekly earnings. A first-year player will bag at least $44,166 for each each in the active roster, a one-eighteenth cut of the annual minimum salary.

What is the average NFL salary?

Ahead of the 2024 NFL season the Dallas Cowboys made history, signing quarterback Dak Prescott to a huge four-year deal worth $240 million. That annual contract value - $60 million per year - is the highest ever seen in the league. It’s a far cry from the $225,000 earnt from the lowest earners.

Across the league the average NFL salary has risen significantly for 2024, from $2.8 million to $3.2 million this season. However that varies greatly between different ages as players are entitled to a higher minimum salary for each year spent in the league.

These figures are constantly changing as NFL teams enjoy greater revenue and the minimum salaries increase across the board. The current CBA, signed in 2020, covers the league through the 2030 season and brings gradual salary increases. In the 2025 season, the minimum first year salary for NFL players will rise to $840,000.

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