The NFL has always had a huge amount of money floating around the league. The numbers that we can see in the contracts in the league is astounding. This year has seen some records being broken all over the football field. A number of players have broken a number of contract records for their position this season. The world economy is a bit rowdy at the moment, however the football economy is huge and every year the teams get a sizeable amount of cash injection by the fans buying merchandise and attending live games.
How much money is being spent on players contracts in the NFL?
The answer to that question is a lot. A serious amount of money. The minimum contract in the NFL, according to Fox Sports, is $840,000. Even for the worst player in the league, that is still a lot of money. The records being set by teams this year in almost every position is evidence of the ever changing economy. The best players are guaranteed huge amounts in their contracts regardless of where they play.
And this year the money that players are making is breaking records. Back in 1955, the minimum amount a player could earn was $5000 per year. One can only imagine how those veterans react when hearing about the money being made by players nowadays. Some have long pointed out that sports stars overall, not just NFL players, make way to much money considering what they do.
The NFL has a solution to this, the salary cap. The salary cap for each team is set at $279.2 million per club this year, an increase from last year. Once again, according to Fox Sports, the free agency this year saw the teams sign free agents contracts worth a total of $2.735 billion. That is just in the free agency alone. So the money that the big teams are willing to offer their stars is astounding. As has become evident recently.
Who has gotten the biggest contract in the NFL this year?
The reality this year is that the players can expect the teams to offer them record setting contracts. This can be true when we look at the highest paid player this year, Dak Prescott. Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million extension with the Dallas Cowboys last September. That means that this year alone, he will get $60 Million from the Cowboys. The Cowboys are looking to break records this year.
Next up is the running back legend, Saquon Barkley. Barkley was rewarded with a two-year, $41 million extension after winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year in his first year with the Eagles. That gives him $20 million a year in Philadelphia. Their win in the Super Bowl has added to Barkley’s reputation as one of the best offensive players in the NFL.
Another contract that is worth mentioning is Ja’Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals. The wide receiver is a crucial role in the game of football and Ja’Marr Chase has proven his worth. He earned himself a four-year deal worth $161 million with $112 million guaranteed. That makes him the highest paid non quarterback player in NFL history. A truly remarkable contract.
Can the players live up to their record setting contracts?
The 2025 season is going to be an electric one. The draft threw up some surprises of its own this year and gave us a taste of the drama to come. With all these record breaking contracts being offered to players, the league has come along way. The average salary in the NFL is around $2.8 Million per year. But the difference in that and the record breaking contracts that players like Dak Prescott have are crazy. The question becomes are those players really worth all that money? Are they millions of times better than another player in the same position? Time will tell.
