2020 NFL Rookie Dollars & Cents

2019 NFL Draft Analysis – Average Guaranteed Dollars by Round
1st Round – $16,939,370
2nd Round – $3,786853
3rd Round – $946,211
4th Round – $692,925
5th Round – $301,369
6th Round – $161,745
7th Round – $88,795

(These numbers include base salary, signing, roster and option bonuses that are guaranteed)

Undrafted Free Agents
$5,000 (Average Signing Bonus)

2020 Rookie Minimum Salary: $610,000
So weekly pay if on 53 man roster: $35,882

2020 Practice Squad Weekly Pay: $8,400 ($142,800 if on all 17 weeks)
Players that are drafted sign 4 year contracts
Players that are not drafted sign 3 year contracts

So an undrafted contact done in 2020 would be 3 years with no signing bonus with be 3 years $2,285,000 (nothing guaranteed)

Base Salaries:
2020: $610,000
2021: $660,000
2022: $705,000

Training Camp/Pre-Season Pay: $1,150.00

Off-Season Pay (OTA’s/Mini Camp): $235 per workout – 3 to 4 per week depending

Post Season Pay:
Division Winner: $33,000
Wild Card: $30,000

Division Playoff $33,000

Conference Championship: $59,000

Super Bowl Winner: $130,000
Super Bowl Loser: $65,000

Performance Based Pool:  If a player plays one down in a regular season game he is eligible. This is a lump sum of money paid out after the season based on each player playtime percentage.

Basic NFL Business 101

This might not be any new information but here is some of the basic’s when it comes to the NFL business.

Roster size:  90 man roster in the off-season and start of training camp.  Rosters will get cut down to 53 man roster and of that only 46 players dress for each week.  If a player doesn’t dress he will still get paid the same if he did dress for the game.

Benefits of being on 53 man roster:  After you play 2 regular season games you will be automatic enrolled in the 401K in which the NFL has a match.  There is an NFL pension, tuition reimbursement, and other benefits.  Also each player on the 53 man roster does receive 2 game tickets per home game.

2020 Rookie Base Salary:  $510,000 per year or $30,000 per week.

Performance Based Pool:  If a player plays one down in a regular season game he is eligible. This is a lump sum of money paid out after the season based on each player playtime percentage.

Playoffs:  Will get additional weekly checks if team is in the playoffs.

Practice Squad: The maximum players allowed on a NFL teams practice squad is 10.  A practice squad player can sign with any teams 53 man roster at any time and if signs with another team then its own the player is guaranteed 3 regular season game checks (Assuming there is 3 regular season games left).

2020 Practice Squad Pay: $8,400 a week or $142,800 a year.

Training Camp/Pre-Season Games: Weekly pay in 2020 is $1,150 for rookies.

Taxes: Will need to pay state income taxes in each state that a player plays in, so at the end of the season possible 9 state tax returns will need to be filled.  Each state has a different state income tax rate and some states like Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Washington have no state income tax.

Tuesday During the NFL Season:  Most teams Tuesday is the players off day, but also it is the day teams will bring in “street free-agents” to work out because of injuries the past week or to get a look at for the teams emergency list for future injuries.

An NFL Agent alone can’t get a player drafted or signed

After the NFL Draft is over many players are not drafted as high as they thought they would or were promise and some didn’t get drafted at all in this year’s NFL Draft. First off if any agent promise that you will get drafted, or he or she promises you what round you will get drafted …RUN!

No one knows for sure were a player will get drafted not even the teams –  see Baker Mayfield two years ago, no one thought he would go number one overall even a week before the draft, before the season started and even during the season a lot of teams had him graded as a third round pick. This time last year no one thought Kyler Murray was going to be the first overall pick or even play football at all.

An agent is a facilitator of your talents as a player and what you have put on film. 

An agent can help get you into an All-Star game (Senior Bowl, E-W Shrine, etc.), help you in the pre-draft process, promote your film to NFL scouts, promote you to the media, give you an overview of the NFL landscape in terms of your position with the 32 NFL teams, but if the NFL teams don’t think you can play in the NFL he or she is not going to get you drafted or signed. We have seen players move up draft boards based on all-star game performances or fall down draft boards because they didn’t test like they played.

NFL teams for the most part don’t care who your agent is.  Also NFL teams are going to do what they feel is best for their teams not doing a favor for an agent that they know or like.

An agent has a valuable role to play in the process and they can help move guys up with their guidance and skills about the pre-draft process but an NFL agent alone can’t get a player drafted or signed.  It comes down to does the NFL teams think the player has the skills to play in the NFL. In the end the film doesn’t lie.

NFL/NFL Draft – Frequently Asked Questions

Is it against NCAA rules for players and parents to talk to agents?

No – It is not a violation of NCAA rules if a student-athlete merely talks to an agent (as long as an agreement for agent representation is not established or nothing of value is giving to an athlete) or socializes with an agent. For example, a student-athlete could go to dinner with an agent and no NCAA violations would result if the student-athlete provided his own transportation and paid for his or her meal.

Will NFL teams or scouts provide their spring grades on the player from the two scouting service (BLETSO & National)?

No – The scouting services (BLETSO & National) keep their information private and do not share it with players, parents, coaches, agents, trainers, etc.  Does the information leak out there from time to time and are people able to get their hands on it, yes but it doesn’t come from the two organizations directly.

How do BLETSO and National come up with the spring grades?

Both scouting service will come in the spring and evaluate the upcoming senior’s by watching film of the prospects junior year, talking to the strength and conditioning staff, the coaching staff, and the academic staff at the school about the prospects.   Some schools allow the scouts to come in and measure the prospects height, weight, hands size, arm length as well as have the prospects take the Wonderlic Test.  Some schools will even allow the scouts to time their players in the 40 yard dash, but very schools will allow this now.

Can players, parents and coaches contact the College Football All-Star games to recommend a player for the All-Star game?

Yes – Anyone can contact the All-Star games (Senior Bowl, East West Shrine Game, NFLPA Bowl, etc.)  to recommend a player and the sooner the better to make sure the player in on the games watch list or at least on the games radar that they would be interested in playing in the game.  The best person to contact is the director of the game.

How does getting invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis work?

National Football Scouting, one of the two scouting service that NFL team use run it, they have a committee of 10 members and they vote on the players that are selected.  Having a good spring grade goes along way to getting selected because spring grades are a road map to where NFL scouts are going to go and watch and evaluate prospects.

When can a player sign with an agent?

When his college eligibility is totally done (after last game, and college team has no more games) as a senior or if a player is going to declare early for the NFL draft he has to be 3 years removed from high school and once he declares for the NFL Draft he forfeits the rest of his college eligibility.

What is the maximum an agent can charge from the player NFL contact?

Per the NFLPA rules the maximum an NFLPA Certified Contract Advisors (agents) can charge is 3% – The agent only get paid after the player get paid off of the players signing bonus or other bonuses in the contract and the base salary.

What is the normal commission fee for marketing and off the field money made for the player?

Agents or marketing firms usually charge between 10% and 15% commission on marketing and off the field money.

Does a player have to hire an agent?

No – But NFL teams are only allowed to talk to NFLPA Certified Contract Advisors that represent the player or the player themselves.  They are not allowed to negotiate with family members or other non-certified people and if they do the team could possible lose future draft choices.

How does a player sign with an agent (NFLPA Certified Contract Advisors)?

They player signs what is called an SRA (Standard Representation Agreement) that is from the NFLPA and is standard for all players.  By sign this is also makes the player part of the NFLPA and Players Inc. (The marketing arm of the NFLPA).  At any time the players can fire the agent and has to wait 5 days to hire another agent to represent him.

What are the steps that go into getting a Senior prospect final grade?

  1. Junior Day
  2. Junior Film Study
  3. Spring Grades
  4. Training Camp Visits (By NFL Scouts)
  5. Regular Season/Post Season
  6. College Football All-Star Games
  7. NFL Combine
  8. Pro Day/Individual Works Outs
  9. Team Grades (From Scouts, Front Office & Coaches)
  10. NFL Draft

Top 20 NFL Players per Position by Average Pay per Year (APY)

By Justin VanFulpen

Here is a look at the Top 20 NFL Player per position by Average Pay per Year (APY). Also there is age, and round drafted and at the bottom of each position group you will see an average for all the categories for the 20 players. Information was taken from Spotrac.com

QB

RB

WR

TE

LT

RT

OG

C

DE

DT

OLB

ILB

CB

FS

SS

What NFL Draft Grades are made up of per NFL Scouts

Film (80%) – Your level of competition and how you played against the best level of competition you faced that year.  Each NFL team will view around 3 full games of your current season normally against who is the best competition. This also includes if a prospect plays in any of the college football all-star games. Scouts are not watching highlight clips to grade they are watching full game and grading every play. They are looking to see if a player plays hard and hustles on every play they are in.

Athletic Numbers (10%) – Height, Weight, Speed.  Teams are looking at the film first and then see if the prospect checks off the box in the athletic numbers per the position.  But still the film comes first. True teams have a range of where they athletic numbers need to be, but if you can’t play that goes out the window.

Injury History/Off Field/Football IQ (10%) –  Any major injuries, anything major off the field, love of the game, film study.  Scouts are check social media, talking to high school coaches, strength coaches, academic advisors, current coaches as they try to find out as much information on the prospect on and off the field. Teams will reject players fully for injury and off the field issues no matter how good a player is on the field.

What can help/hurt a players NFL draft stock that has nothing to do with playing

True in the NFL it is all about can you play the game at a high level and it is about the film and as they always say “the eye in the sky can’t tell a lie” but there are other factors that make up a player draft stock that has nothing to do with your skill as a player. There are a lot of things that are out of players control but there are many that it comes down to choices.

Effort/Hustle – Going 100% on every play doesn’t have anything to do skill.  Having a high motor and giving hustle and effort on every play is only a positive and is something that a player can control. Remember scouts and coaches and not just watching highlight tapes, they are watching full games to see what you do on every snap.

Football IQ – Film study, knowledge of your opponent, what are his tendencies, knowledge of your scheme and the purpose of each play, knowledge of the rules, all of these things it doesn’t matter how athletically gifted you are as a player.    

Accepting Coaching – Remember scouts are going to talk to coaches about prospects, from the head coach down to the position coaches and one thing coaches are going to is be honest with the scouts because coaches know that they are only as good as their word when it comes to what they tell the scouts. So if the prospect will accept coaching, willing to do what the coaches ask of him are all things that a prospect has control over.

Failed Drug Test – As a player you might not thing that this is a big deal but it is something that can hurt you with NFL teams and is something that as player you have control over.

Domestic Violence/ Violence against Women – There are many documented cases that has affected guys draft status including a few years ago with running back Joe Mixon (Cincinnati Bengals).  Even with this happening a few years ago many teams took him off their draft board and he dropped a lot further in the draft then many people had him graded on film.

Association – When NFL teams are doing their due diligence investigating player’s back-grounds they are interested in who the player hangs with off the field and do any of these people present red flags.  They are wondering if by associating with these people will the player be affected to making some bad decisions?

Social Media – Monitoring and reviewing player’s social media has become a big time in the recent years.  Scouts are looking to see what the prospect is posting on these platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram).  They are looking for is the player posting about football? Some of the red flags they are looking for is the prospect posting about Guns, Violence, Drugs, Alcohol, etc.?

Work Ethic – As a prospect are you a hard worker in the weight room, on the practice field, in the class room. Thing is one thing that a prospect can control. One of the most important resource to a NFL scout is the weight room coach or the strength and conditioning coach. Scouts are going to ask does this prospect show up for work outs, does he do extra, do you have to push him to give effort? All things that can be controlled.

Medical – This is one that a prospect doesn’t have much control over, in football injuries happen, and they do have an effect on prospect draft grade.   What a prospect does have is when the injury does happen how hard to they attack the rehab, also what are you doing as far as injury prevention?

NFL Supplemental Draft – What is it? How does it work? Who has been drafted in the past?

The NFL supplemental draft is held every year after the regular draft in April, normally in early July. It is held so that if a prospect will not be eligible for the upcoming college football season can apply to play in the NFL and without the supplement draft it would leave the prospect in limbo for a full year. If a player wants to be included in the supplemental draft, a formal petition needs to be filed with the league and not every player is guaranteed admittance. Players need to be at least three years removed from high school to be eligible for the supplemental draft. The most common reason a player will enter the supplemental draft is because of not being eligible due to academic reasons. But other reason do come up as to why a player would be ruled eligible to be included in the supplemental draft.

The supplemental draft order is different from the regular draft order. Teams are separated into three groups based on the previous season; the first group are non-playoff teams that had six or fewer wins. The second group are non-playoff teams with more six wins. And the final group are playoff teams. The order in those groups are determined by a weighted lottery with the teams with the fewest wins given the best chance to win the earliest picks. Bids for players are submitted blindly by teams with the round that given team would want to select a given player. Obviously, the team highest in the draft order who submits the earliest-round bid for a player will be awarded that player. When that happens, that club forfeits a pick in the same round of next year’s regular draft.

Last year two players where selected in the NFL Supplemental Draft, Sam Beal, Western Michigan by the New York Giants in the 3rd round, and Adonis Alexander, Virginia Tech by the Washington Redskins in the 6th round.

If a player enters the supplemental draft and is not drafted then he automatically becomes a free-agent and then is able to sign with any team.

Past NFL Supplemental Draft picks:

1977       Al Hunter             RB           4th         Seattle Seahawks             Notre Dame       Suspended from the team for disciplinary reasons.

1978       Johnnie Dirden  WR         10th       Houston Oilers  Sam Houston State          dropped out of college after two years.

Rod Connors      RB           12th       San Francisco 49ers         USC        dropped out of college with eligibility remaining.

1979       Rod Stewart       RB           6th         Buffalo Bills         Kentucky

1980       Matthew Teague             DE           7th         Atlanta Falcons Prairie View A&M

Billy Mullins        WR         9th         San Diego Chargers         USC        declared ineligible when it was discovered that he gained credits simultaneously from four junior colleges in the fall of 1977 in order to gain entry to USC.

1981       Dave Wilson       QB          1st          New Orleans Saints         Illinois   declared ineligible amid questions about his high school transcript and junior college stay.

Chy Davidson     WR         11th       New England Patriots     Rhode Island

1982       Kevin Robinson CB           9th         Detroit Lions      North Carolina A&T

1985       Bernie Kosar       QB          1st          Cleveland Browns            Miami (FL)           Graduated after his junior year.

Roosevelt Snipes              RB           8th         San Francisco 49ers         Florida State       Academically ineligible.

1986       Charles Crawford             RB           7th         Philadelphia Eagles          Oklahoma State Crawford missed his senior year with an injury and declared for the supplemental draft amid questions about whether his eligibility would be extended (currently, medical redshirt status would be given before the draft deadline).

1987       Brian Bosworth LB           1st          Seattle Seahawks             Oklahoma           Bosworth had been dismissed from the Oklahoma football team following the 1986 season. Since he was a junior, he was eligible to be chosen in the 1987 draft but did not declare before the deadline[10] and decided to wait for the supplemental draft, which he was eligible for due to his graduation from Oklahoma one year early.

Dan Sileo             DT           3rd         Tampa Bay Buccaneers  Miami (FL)           Sileo was declared ineligible by the NCAA for his senior season.

Cris Carter        WR         4th         Philadelphia Eagles          Ohio State           Carter was suspended before his senior season for signing with an agent.

1988       Ryan Bethea      WR         5th         Minnesota Vikings           South Carolina   Suspended from team over drug arrests

1989       Steve Walsh       QB          1st          Dallas Cowboys Miami (FL)           Walsh did not declare for the draft before its deadline.

Timm Rosenbach             QB          1st          Phoenix Cardinals            Washington State            Rosenbach did not declare for the draft before its deadline.

Bobby Humphrey             RB           1st          Denver Broncos Alabama

Brett Young        DB          8th         Buffalo Bills         Oregon

Mike Lowman    RB           12th       Dallas Cowboys Coffeyville Community College

1990       Rob Moore         WR         1st          New York Jets    Syracuse              Moore graduated from college with a year of eligibility remaining, and did not declare in time for regular draft.

Willie Williams   TE           9th         Phoenix Cardinals            LSU

1992       Dave Brown        QB          1st          New York Giants               Duke     Brown graduated from college with a year of eligibility remaining, and did not declare for the NFL until after the regular draft had been held. Brown is the last player taken in the first round of the supplemental draft.

Darren Mickell   DE           2nd        Kansas City Chiefs            Florida  Mickell was suspended from team for senior season for undisclosed violations of team rules.

1994       Tito Wooten      CB           4th         New York Giants               Northeast Louisiana

John Davis           TE           5th         Dallas Cowboys Emporia State

1995       Darren Benson  DT           3rd         Dallas Cowboys Trinity Valley Community College

1998       Mike Wahle        OT          2nd        Green Bay Packers           Navy      Wahle was suspended for senior season by the NCAA after testing positive for steroids.

Jamal Williams   NT          2nd        San Diego Chargers         Oklahoma State Williams was declared academically ineligible before his senior season.

1999       J’Juan Cherry      CB           4th         New England Patriots     Arizona State    

2002       Milford Brown   G             6th         Houston Texans Florida State       He had used up his five-year competition eligibility.

2003       Tony Hollings     RB           2nd        Houston Texans Georgia Tech      He was academically ineligible for the 2003 college season.

2005       Manuel Wright  DT           5th         Miami Dolphins USC        Chose entering the draft over not playing college football while trying to regain his academic eligibility.

2006       Ahmad Brooks   LB           3rd         Cincinnati Bengals           Virginia He was dismissed from his college team.

2007       Paul Oliver          S              4th         San Diego Chargers         Georgia He left college because of academic problems.

Jared Gaither     OT          5th         Baltimore Ravens             Maryland             He was declared academically ineligible in college.

2009       Jeremy Jarmon DE           3rd         Washington Redskins     Kentucky             Suspended over failed drug test.

2010       Harvey Unga      FB           7th         Chicago Bears    BYU        Expelled for disciplinary reasons.

Josh Brent           NT          7th         Dallas Cowboys Illinois   He was reportedly academically ineligible for the 2010 college football season

2011       Terrelle Pryor    QB          3rd         Oakland Raiders               Ohio State           Suspended as part of NCAA investigation into improper benefits.

2012       Josh Gordon       WR         2nd        Cleveland Browns            Baylor   Dismissed for failed marijuana test.

2015       Isaiah Battle       OT          5th         St. Louis Rams   Clemson              Had “family matters to attend”, as well as off-field issues.

2018       Sam Beal              CB           3rd         New York Giants               Western Michigan           He was declared academically ineligible in college.

Adonis Alexander            CB           6th         Washington Redskins     Virginia Tech      He was declared academically ineligible in college