Over the past few NFL offseasons, we’ve gotten used to seeing record-breaking contracts fall one after another. The $60 million-per-season deal the Cowboys gave Prescott or the $188 million the Packers just offered Micah Parsons hardly raise eyebrows anymore.
But that isn’t the reality for every player in the NFL. Quarterback contracts worth tens of millions of dollars per season will always get the headlines, but most first-year players entering the league will only earn a fraction of that.
Each season the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) designates a minimum salary, the absolute lowest that a player on the roster of an NFL team can earn across the season. The minimum salary for the 2025 NFL season is $840,000far in excess of what most people can ever hope to earn but still a long way from the league’s biggest stars.
However this figure does increase with time and NFL veterans with seven or more years under their belts will receive a minimum annual salary of $1,255,000.
Who are the lowest-paid players in the NFL?
While there is a fairly generous minimum salary imposed by the league, that only applies to players who remain a part of the team’s 53-man active roster throughout the 2025 season. For many of the low-earning, fringe players that is pretty unlikely.
There is always the chance that they could be dropped to the practice squad, or cut entirely. If that’s the case they will earn significantly less than the league’s minimum.
The salary will be paid on a pro-rata basis for each week that they are in the active roster, in the practice squad players with less than two years in the league will earn just $12,500 a week. That means that players who spend the entire year – all 18 weeks of regular season action – in the practice squad will earn $225,000 across an entire season. Before tax.
A practice squad player getting a callup to the active roster will receive a significant increase on their weekly earnings. A first-year player will bag at least $44,166 for each each in the active rostera one-eighteenth cut of the annual minimum salary.
Average NFL salaries per position (2024):
- Long Snapper: $1,069,016
- Fullback: $1,724,440
- Punter: $1,520,940
- Running Back: $1,789,687
- Cornerback: $1,999,348
- Wide Receiver: $2,277,703
- Tight End: $2,055,238
- Safety: $2,196,749
- Kicker: $2,228,472
- Defensive Tackle: $2,496,660
- Center: $2,394,058
- Defensive End: $2,996,247
- Guard: $2,500,421
- Edge Rusher: $3,234,289
- Outside Linebacker: $3,703,880
- Inside Linebacker: $3,856,602
- Right Tackle: $5,128,198
- Quarterback: $4,855,892
- Left Tackle: $8,952,680
Source: Sportrac
What is the average NFL salary?
Ahead of the 2024 NFL season the Dallas Cowboys made history, signing quarterback Dak Prescott to a huge four-year deal worth $240 million. That annual contract value – $60 million per year – is the highest ever seen in the league. It’s a far cry from the $225,000 earnt from the lowest earners.
Across the league the average NFL salary has risen significantly for 2025, from $2.8 million to $3.2 million this season. However that varies greatly between different ages as players are entitled to a higher minimum salary for each year spent in the league.
| Years in the league | Minimum NFL annual salaries |
|---|---|
| 0 | $840,000 |
| 1 | $960,000 |
| 2 | $1,030,000 |
| 3 | $1,100,000 |
| 4-6 | $1,170,000 |
| 7+ | $1,255,000 |
These figures are constantly changing as NFL teams enjoy greater revenue and the minimum salaries increase across the board. The current CBA, signed in 2020, covers the league through the 2030 season and brings gradual salary increases.
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