NFL Practice Squad Salary

Phew! The Super Bowl 2011 just got over and how! I mean wow, if there would not have been an even more fitting finale to the NFL build up of all these months! What a game it was between the Packers and Steelers! But now I guess post the match and the celebration and party all the teams and coaches must have got down to business and gearing up for the next season. All the mainstream or featured players as well as the practice squad (also called the scout team) will be up on their toes for taking up the next challenge. The practice squad is like a bunch of rookies who want to break into the main team. Further, these players get paid for it.

What is a NFL Practice Squad

All the NFL teams have a main team roster comprising 53 featured players. The practice squad, apart from this consists of maximum 8 players. These are the players who are sort of waiting in the wings to get some action on the field. These players practice shoulder to shoulder with the featured players, even simulating the opponents, but of course they do not play in the actual games. For instance those players who were on the team in course of training camps and even pre season, but failed to make the final cut. Primarily these are rookies waiting to get a breakthrough in the main team. In addition to this, if a player has never made it to the 53 member squad or has been in that list just for a single season and has played fewer than 9 games can also be a part of the practice squad. Players can be in the practice squad for a limited period of 3 years. In addition to that player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons, or in case he has accrued a year of NFL experience, which involves 6 or more games on a club's 53-man active roster or if the player is in official Injured Reserve list.

NFL Practice Squad Pay

Well, now that we know what is the practice squad all about, let us move on to the salary of the NFL practice squad. The minimum to begin with, is around $ 5,000 or more for a week. This is received by them for 17 weeks. That makes it $88,400 per season, which is hardly anything as compared to the player who is on the main roster. In a few cases though the practice squad members might get paid more. For instance a player (part of practice squad) for New England Patriots got paid, an amount which he would have, in due course, got as a part of the main team. Apart from the 17 weeks if the team makes it to the playoffs and has to play additional weeks, this amount may vary.

This amount, around $5,000 can change in case 2011 turns out to be an uncapped year, without any salary cap. If there is no cap, it can increase by around $500. In the year 2012, the salary can go up to around $ 5,700. A few years back the salary was $4,700 for a week. The salary drawn by these players will be determined by the collective bargaining agreement.

This was all about the practice squad salaries. Even though the rules in connection with the salary are set, as mentioned above, some teams do pay more to some of their practice squad members. That's it! Till next time, it is adios from me!