People often talk about NFL players as if they all make $20 million per year and have long-term contracts. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, the NFL is a lucrative business, but the average salary is far less than $20 million and many contracts are only partially guaranteed — or not at all. They do not necessarily come with the long-term financial security that people assume.
This is important for athletes who are getting divorced. Even a spouse may have some inaccurate assumptions about how much they earn or how much they (the spouse) should get in the divorce. It’s important to take stock of the real financial situation when sorting everything out.
So, with that in mind, what is the average NFL salary? Though that does change from year to year, one report pinned it at $2.1 million. While that’s still a lot of money by many standards, it is well below the $20 million noted above.
You also have to remember that it is an average. This is a league where some players do make more than $30 million per year. For every quarterback earning that type of money, you also have guys playing on the league minimum to even things out.
Plus, football careers are short. $2.1 million doesn’t even sound like that much when you consider that it may have to last someone for the rest of their life. This isn’t a sport where you can have a 40-year career. It’s disingenuous to look at yearly earnings the same way you would in other careers.
If you are getting divorced and dealing with these types of issues, be very sure you understand what legal options you have.