How much does NFL's lowest paid player earn?

The NFL is a big business, housing some of the most profitable sports franchises in the world. The American Football League pays its top players millions upon millions of dollars, making them some of the best-paid players on the planet.

But eating from this huge pie is not just for franchise quarterbacks and top Pro Bowlers. It includes a lot of players who are on the fringes and are not automatic starters. There are players who primarily play on special teams. Then there are others who are activated as needed and are on the practice squad on the outside looking in.

Not all these players are made equal. As in any business, there are those that earn the top bucks and there are those that are at the bottom. Equally as often, the people at the bottom are just as critical to running the organization. They are the ones that come in and keep the team functioning when others are not available or up to the task.

Today, we look at the lowest-paid players in the NFL who play in the practice squads.

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Practice squad players are the lowest-paid in the NFL

Most of us are aware that the NFL has a salary cap. What we forget is that based on the NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there is a salary floor as well. Both the cap and floor are inviolable. The minimum salary negotiated in 2020 was $610,000, rising to $660,000 last year and $705,000 this year.

Among regular players, salaries are directly related to the position a player plays on the field. The special teamers unsurprisingly earn the least at $2.775 million on average. Kickers, punters, and long snappers earn the bulk of that. Among offensive and defensive players, the lowest paid are the running backs because of their lower shelf life and ability to find fresher players off the draft.

But outside of regular players, there are players on the practice squad who earn less than that. The minimum salary for players not on the active/inactive list drops to $430,000. The full table is given below.

Years in the NFL	Minimum salary for a player not on an Active/Inactive list	Minimum salary for a player on an Active/Inactive list
0	$430,000	$705,000
1	$455,000	$825,000
2	$480,000	$895,000
3	$505,000	$965,000
4 to 6	$530,000	$1,035,000
7+	$580,000	$1,120,000

One can see that there are certain determinants of how much a player on the minimum salary earns. For a rookie, it is the lowest and then it rises for every subsequent year. Considering that the average career in the NFL is just three years, anyone who can outlast that is in a separate bracket of four to six years. Then there is a separate category for veterans with more than seven years under their belt.

Practice squad members are paid weekly. There are two categories within that as well. The first category involves all players who have no accrued NFL season, made the active list in less than nine regular-season games per accrued season, or are one of four selected players to have an unlimited number of appearances during a maximum of two accrued seasons.

If they are in this group with the criteria laid out above, the player earns a fixed $11,500 per week. For the players who do not fall in the above category, they receive a minimum payment of $15,400 per week, rising to a maximum of $19,900 weekly salary. This is applicable for both the regular season and the postseason.

While the salary is still high compared to the average person on the street, it is no match for those that are at the top of the sport. However, it is still good money and players still stand by it. Hope springs eternal for them as they keep a steady income while aiming to make it to the active roster as a permanent player.