The best though NFL players are millionaires It's not as easy for the rest of the league as it has been over so many times.
The NFL minimum salary for rookies in 2024 was $795,000, which represents the smallest salary of any of the league's roughly 1,700 active players who are under year-round contracts. It sounds profitable, but as Wife of former NFL player Chad Hansen As explained, life in the League isn't always as opulent as it seems.
Posted in a video from December tiktok, Bryce Watts Hansen Dispel the misconception that everyone in the NFL is a millionaire.
Chad, now 29, spent five years in the NFL, bouncing between the New York Jets New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons.
“He was on eight different NFL teams,” Watts Hansen said in the video. “That means eight different contracts are being signed and broken.”
He acknowledges that even in the worst of times, players still make enough money, but it also comes with costs that many don't consider — including Watts Hansen until he faces reality. Having to move constantly.
“I know how to get flights, move all our stuff. It's like an expense that you have to eat.” He continued. “It's just, like, all these little things that you can like play in your head.”
“The NFL Ladies” The podcast host added that at one point, she and her husband were paying rent in three different cities due to the unpredictable nature of her job. And the wide receiver, who was a member of the Falcons for about a month and a half, paid $10,000 to Atlanta.
Watts Hansen also admitted that it was previously believed that all players were millionaires, but that is not the reality for those who constantly sign and then get cut.
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“It would have been really cool if that was the case, if we were a team and all that stuff,” he explained. “But you know, that's not the reality for everybody.”
“(Chad) signed an agreement. Then a few months later you get nothing, especially if you sign early in the offseason and then you get cut in the offseason,” he added. “You're not seeing any of that money because you haven't played over and over, you haven't gone to practice.”
Players must account for the risky nature of their work. Watts Hansen said the couple had to spend a considerable amount on doctors' appointments, “just one of the odd little things here and there.”
And even for players who have more stable careers, the money doesn't go as far as one might think. The average NFL player lasts only three to four years in the league before being forced to retire with no other professional experience. Even a six- or seven-figure salary in these few years won't last a lifetime.