If you’re a star quarterback, you’re not just rich. You’re “buy-a-small-country” rich. Guys like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow sign contracts worth $450 million or more. That’s enough money to buy every single item at a 7-Eleven, and the 7-Eleven itself.
Now, look at the other end of the spectrum. A rookie on a practice squad scraping by on $216,000 a year. Cue the world’s tiniest violin. “Scraping by” is a joke, but compared to Mahomes, they’re basically couch-surfing on a futon made of rejection letters.
Kickers and punters are the weird middle children. They do one job—kick a ball—and earn between $1 million and $5 million. That’s more than a brain surgeon, for booting a pigskin. If you can kick a field goal in the snow, you never have to cook again.
Celebrities and Athletes: Salaries and Finances
Surprising Fact: The NFL’s “Minimum Wage” Is a Lie
You might think the league minimum, around $795,000 for a rookie in 2026 (it goes up yearly), is a fortune. And it is! But remember, the average NFL career lasts only 3.3 years. That three years of high pay has to last a lifetime, unless you’re a wizard with money or you instantly blow it on a car collection.
Speaking of blowing it, 78% of former NFL players go bankrupt within two years of retirement. Yes, really. After earning millions, they’re broke. It’s like a reverse Cinderella story, minus the glass slipper and plus a lot of bad investments in car washes.
