How Do NFL Contracts Actually Work? | Ringer PhD | The Ringer

Last summer, Patrick Mahomes signed a record-breaking $503 million contract to stay with the Kansas City Chiefs. But how much of that money will he actually make? NFL contracts are notoriously convoluted, with few similarities to their NBA and MLB counterparts. NFL players rarely play the amount of years on their contract, and the amount of money listed in their contract is more often than not a guideline rather than a sure thing. So why does it work this way? The Ringer's Danny Heifetz breaks down how NFL salaries actually work, navigating all the intricacies from guarantee mechanisms to non-guaranteed buckets.
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[@jonsmith7659]

This is why I’m never going to be angry at a player for holding out. There’s no job security or loyalty from the team so why should the players care about them. It’s billionaires attempting to convince us the workers are the problem. They do all the work and take all the risk. Without them, there’s no reason to have a stadium or sell merch.

[@EverettBurger]

Former coworker of mine played a few years in the NFL. He didn't reach a decade, but his career was much longer than the average NFL player. The guy stayed on the practice squad for a while and was a backup for a while as well. He was perfectly fine not signing a million dollar contact because he knew if he was a starter and got hurt, his career would be over. Therefore, he kept signing six figure deals and stayed healthy. He was able to walk away with really good money in his early 30s. He then started his own business. Plus, as he said "when I'm 35, I won't have to walk with a cane." He is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met.

[@HH-le1vi]

Owners take risk as well. Not like I'm going to risk 2 billion to not make money.

[@firemarshal2629]

@jacob no but the players are getting paid a kings ransom to play a children’s game. It’s laughable to think a roofer could work 50 years and not make what a second string lineman will make in a few seasons. You’ve been conditioned to care what a millionaire makes so you won’t worry about your wallet.

[@DrZaius3141]

Life in a nutshell. No matter how loyal you are to your place of work, no business will ever be loyal to you, because a business is designed to make money, it's hard coded to slit your throat if there's a buck in it.

[@HH-le1vi]

@jacob it's not a companies responsibility to teach players how to manage their money. That's something the players need to do themselves.

[@georgehall6476]

This might be the best video you’ve ever put out. Really well done.

[@andrewdzierwa1270]

i was thinking the same thing how on earth does it only have 20k views

[@benjaminunanaowo2929]

Right, this gave Jon Bois SB Nation feels. Very well done!

[@Nameback]

Seconded, high production value but also this covers a topic I know almost nothing about! It was great to be educated. I wish there was more content around the salary cap.

[@jbrig6959]

You are the best video that’s been put out

[@hombrealfisti3997]

📠 📠 📠

[@kingsaw5282]

This is why when fans tell players to “honor your contract!”, it’s all horseshit. No one ever tells the owners to do the same.

[@KenMeier]

@jacob Players can retire at anytime. And if they want to redo it part way through the contract then they can do that as well if they have the leverage. The point is, just because the contract is signed, doesnt mean you have to stick with it throughout the full length of the agreement. If you are in a strong position to force a restructure/release/trade then more power to you.

[@kingsaw5282]

@jacobAnd that's one sided. Like I said.... Horseshit

[@kingsaw5282]

@jacob The NFL has a monopoly on professional football. It's not as easy as "don't sign then". If thats your mentality, then you're part of the problem

[@kingsaw5282]

@jacob And so is owning a football team. What is your point? Just because owners have more money, doesn't make them any better than the players. The same rules should apply.

[@douglasjarnagan3835]

Players sign contracts knowing that they can be cut. Teams don't sign players to contracts knowing that they will pull a Deshaun Watson and demand a trade 4 months later.

[@aoht06]

Need to send this to people who argue against Deshaun Watson saying “he signed a contract so he needs to honor it!” Lol talking like NFL “contracts” are actually true contractual agreements

[@JJJJ-jw8hc]

facts

[@Jonah_s550]

Damn bro you put my cap store out of business 😔

[@Singkhorn.S]

Well if he wants to get paid then he has to honor the contract simple

[@aoht06]

@@Singkhorn.S Sure but what the Texans will eventually realize is that it’s pointless forcing a disgruntled employee to stick around. Better to trade Watson for a massive haul and re-build with draft picks/players that actually want to be in Houston

[@HH-le1vi]

@@Singkhorn.S Except it's not like that on the companies end. They can let you go without warning or reason. Screw that. If I can control my destiny more than the company I work for then I'll do that.

[@xandervick3594]

Beautiful video, easy to understand, great references, and creative visuals. The ringer keeps getting better and better (free j. Kyle Mann, RIP dime drop)

[@dephy11]

what happened with my boy j kyle mann?

[@alancotter4825]

@@dephy11 He’s on NBA Ringer University podcast (on the ringer nba show feed if you wanna listen)

[@freddiebtv]

When stuff like what is happening to Lamar happens, You gotta come back and watch this video. So much replay value

[@jelliebird37]

Oh, Lamar, OH MY GOD what they’re DONE to LAMAR!!! 😩😫😧🥺😩😫😩😫

[@nathanritscherle6667]

An NBA video in this style covering salary matches, trade exceptions, etc would be helpful.

[@wedolittletrolling1997]

Yeah

[@joshuahfarber]

Completely agree

[@YinzerJr79]

Doing one of the big 4 sports would be very helpful, especially to compare the differences. Especially in a format like this that picks on a specific player and details the contract.

[@krp6680]

NBA is way too easy!

[@jon-unicorn-doxxer]

@@krp6680 exactly...there's not much creative accounting in NBA than the rest like the NFL...

[@emwilliams2927]

"I dont see a problem here." -K Cousins

[@grimtea1715]

This comment deserves way more likes

[@BIG_L.O.E]

That's why you have to focus on a great signing bonus and a high guaranteed dollar number. Everything else is gonna depend on production and health

[@jeremiahtalkssports1832]

I won't even lie...this was easily the most informative and impressive video I have seen that describes NFL player salaries. Most people just see 500 million and think he is going to get all of it or thinks it automatically kicked in. This video really explained NFL salaries better than I have ever seen

[@fantilldeath528trajectory]

Julio Jones contract is 64 million of 66 million guarenteed for 3 years . Julio Jones is a rare breed indeed

[@yzfool6639]

Too bad he doesn't have a QB that can throw him open.

[@dstarkspp]

I hope he got some of that money!

[@donnelladams8362]

@@dstarkspp He got 64 million

[@2keeezy189]

I literally just searched to learn about nfl contracts and this was uploaded an hour ago. What TIMING!

[@jvanek8512]

This felt more like a players advocacy video then just explaining NFL contracts

[@vigneshmahalingam7106]

Wow, these deals really do make a lot more sense now

[@harshgupta1999]

Beautiful animation , excellent job

[@apierre6]

The moral of this story: If you're an elite athlete, Play in the MLB or NBA. Guarantee contracts and you won't absolutely wreck your body or get CTE. The NFL players union is incredibly weak

[@zenmar84]

And also the option of playing elsewhere where you can also get alot of money especially for NBA Players.

[@freakreacts7575]

@@zenmar84 nba is 1000 times harder to make than the NFl

[@zenmar84]

@@freakreacts7575 yup beacuse of tje limited no. Of spot in a team but also basketball and in some way Baseball has other viable league to go to if you can't make it at the top league. I forgot who it was, but there was a player who played overseas basketball even though he has offers in the NBA because he'd rather be a star and get paid outside the NBA rather than play there and be on the bench.

[@PassivesAbseits]

@@zenmar84 Milos Teodosic comes to mind, even though he played 2 years for the Clippers, when he was like 31. Pablo Prigioni played his Rookie Season at age 36. Both could have come to Amrica for like a decade, but chose not to. And both will be Hall of Famers...

[@aoht06]

Unless you’re a QB. Kyler Murray made the right decision going NFL instead of MLB

[@EthanSchaner]

This is probably the most well made video on the entire Ringer channel! This man and Kyle J Mann are the main reasons I stick around.

[@dmatthews7423]

These animations are absolutely great!

[@Kruppt808]

One of the best nfl front office vids I've ever seen.

[@raghuhariharan]

One of the best Ringer/NFL explainer videos ever

[@shimmyshafar4194]

This actually may be the greatest video Iv ever watched and I truly mean that. Never seen anything so informative.

[@crenshawshank]

Excellent, excellent video. Just so engaging, fun, informative, etc. Danny Heifetz and the animators crushed it.

[@rerun40807]

Thank you. Thanks for putting this into perspective

[@rjlramos]

Love the presentation on this, especially the video game style graphics.

[@nf2203]

Great content, love Ringer PhD!

[@jaharris373]

This video is amazing! Kudos to the research department and to the creative mind behind the visuals!!

[@alexnils6984]

Great vidéo. Those types of information are not so common to find and that's a great synthesis of everything we need to know

[@arkpnbf04]

Great video, the old video game references were awesome!

[@tommytsunami4910]

Great video! Informative and appealing !!

[@ericsturtevant9873]

Great vid!!! Very Informative!!!

[@montollo1098]

excellent breakdown of the contract negotiation process.

[@tarohnfinley4120]

Great Video! I hope I can work with you guys one day. You guys have the best sports content because of how in depth and detailed it is. You guys should make more videos like this.

[@jayhawk731]

That's why they say to "love your job, but never love your company, because you'll never know when your company stops loving you".

[@eli6797]

heard a sayin something like “learn to live for yourself because when you win in life, those around you win as well. when you lose, you have to take that L by yourself”

[@gardenshock51]

Yeah this isn't the 90's or 80's. Staying loyal to some company for 30 years isn't logical.

[@JDelta87]

The total concept of this video was done very well. Made it very easy to follow along and I’m sure it wasn’t an easy video to make.

[@zmfischer]

Amazing explanation. Thank you!

[@billycole2512]

This ladies and gentlemen is top tier youtube content.

[@apierre6]

Great video. Love the production values

[@horn2102]

Wow the production value on this was amazing well done

[@klonbe]

This video was really well edited. Good job

[@marceljackson7456]

Thats why I don't get upset when players holdout. NFL owners want something for nothing then when a player out performs their current contract, owners don't wanna pay.

[@svang7220]

Love the animations man. Subbed

[@yangthao1795]

Absolutely great video.

[@mattk6666]

Great production value and great video. Keep it up

[@Video-Games-Are-Fun]

the super mario bros. 3 world map and the 3 treasure chests were a nice touch. he should have used sonic 2 from sega genesis here too.

[@TaylorDore]

This video needs to be seen by more people, great work!

[@GoldSulftin]

Excellent video across the board!

[@drake9743]

This was an incredible video. I shared it with my group chat after 6 min into the video.

[@cridgit001]

This is great. More of this please

[@tizfrreecharm]

Fascinating. Thanks for the insights!

[@jasontsotsos2485]

I have to hand it to those behind this video for producing a really, really great and fun lesson on something I didn't know too much about, and now feel like an expert on lol!

[@LEMATTOFFICIAL]

Great breakdown, maybe the best I've seen on the subject

[@futureahead9664]

First video I’ve ever seen from u and god it might have been the best KZbin video I’ve ever seen

[@RSmithJr12]

superb video!

[@walterhill2363]

You're real intelligent! Incredible stuff you explained here! Wish you so much health and happiness, man!

[@JediMasterVader]

Well done. 1st timer. Huge nfl fan. Enjoyed it

[@ucantseemeverywell]

great production !

[@taesiansocial473]

Good content. Good job Danny H and friends.

[@roryh2241]

Very well done!!

[@corkskru1658]

Very well done keep it up

[@jarettkrieg86]

Great work on the video!

[@macewbee]

Yo thanks for posting this

[@johnw3922]

Injuries are what makes the guaranteed money dry up. In basketball or baseball an injury is a temporary set back but in football an injury is the difference between a guy that can compete and a guy who can't.

[@MHNK77]

New to this channel. The production level is insane! One of the best sports channel no doubt

[@codyneuhaus4114]

Can we get more videos like this? This was great

[@joekaliko1747]

Well done video

[@user-ye1nh6xj7h]

Thanks for your hard work making this video. These contracts are difficult to understand.

[@lorentzen.montoya]

awesome graphics. more of this please

[@andremaines]

This is a really well made video!

[@AdamM7796]

Great video man

[@jaimeozoria89]

Amazing video!!!

[@Bovice..YT-handles-are-fn-dumb]

Thank you for this video. My kids switching to baseball now.

[@gamingexpress2549]

This was an outstanding video

[@hanessmith3690]

Apologies if this has been said in the comments already, but this video should be shown to every high school and college football player. Extremely well done.

[@johnmichael642]

One of the best videos I’ve ever seen

[@chichef82]

Excellent video.

[@toldman]

insanely good content

[@tittysucker3000]

This video is so well made

[@ronoy1882]

Great content dude 🚀🤧

[@joshuambean]

When it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL, and really only the top tier ones, if they take a little less money from their team, theoretically their team has a chance to be a better team. If the team has more money they can pay defensive players or more weapons for the quarterback. And then the quarterback wins more and becomes more famous. And then signs more endorsement deals and makes even more money than they would have with the team. So for the Brady's and the Mahomes of the world, what little they will give up in team friendly deals, they will more than make up for in other sources of income. Also once you make that kind of money what is money even. You have every toy you could ever want.

[@trentwalker7960]

Tell Russel wilson that he's made 230 million so far and wants more then complains about his front line the team can't pay for

[@stevebob1695]

That’s why Brady is the best, he keeps taking paycuts

[@Daniel-dr2jb]

It’s s been proven that super teams do not work in the NFL like they do in other sports

[@kadmielteneng5850]

@@Daniel-dr2jb 🧢 rams just won the super bowl

[@julianwooten1172]

Very well done video. You should submit this for awards.

[@reubenminor3553]

Great graphics! Makes me miss Tecmo Super Bowl.

[@Redcruiser813]

Nice job 👍🏾

[@bryanadams7558]

THANK YOU! Was thinking about searching this kind of video out last night and I get it served up hot and steamy like my favorite sloppy joe back in elementary school. THANK YOU!

[@RealColdChiller]

Awesome video!

[@durlacosmin4026]

Ok this video is so well done god DAMN

[@ImGoingSupersonic]

This 8-bit is awesome.

[@andrewyarosh1809]

The shot of coach Herman Edwards reminded me that NFL coaches’ contracts are fully guaranteed.

[@ThunderMan312]

tbh this video deserves millions of views

[@qdgamer7183]

This was very great video

[@walterm.robertsiiiphd2157]

Great video and explanation. Could you do a video on some of the recently "re-negotiated" contracts -- for instance of Mr. Geoff in Detroit?

[@keegankipke7369]

awesome vid

[@lagaylamcgahee3556]

Wow, this was so interesting!

[@Zypher2887]

Unbelievably incredible video the quality of footage animation look like the Scott pilgrim video game lol but wow well done with explaining a complex issue in layman's terms so anyone can understand it

[@LucasSChiefsLightning]

I kept trying to explain to people that Mahomes took a team friendly deal, but no one believed me.

[@LouieOcean2]

Lol that’s why they just released both there starting tackles after he was running for his life all super bowl

[@LucasSChiefsLightning]

@@LouieOcean2 His cap charge is really low, not sure what you mean

[@LucasSChiefsLightning]

@@LouieOcean2 Also both of those tackles were old and injury-prone

[@lastgiddon]

@@LouieOcean2 Mahomes' contract hasn't even started yet.

[@jacoballen5538]

Sure team friendly in about 6 years, but it sure as shit aint friendly for the first half. He's gonna easily be one of the highest paid QB's for at minimum the next 4 or 5 years. Oh and also how are you gonna just lie about the starting tackles being "old and injury prone" one guy literally never missed a game before this year, that's about 9 years STRAIGHT of playing 16 games a year so I think you should just stop trying to tell people stuff cause your clearly just a bandwagoner and casual.

[@jsobers]

this was very very interesting and taught me a lot but im still so confused by NFL contracts.

[@BigChuck777]

Awesome, Awesome, vid!!!

[@leafs130071996]

At least the ringer knows their audience well lol thanks for the video on how an NFL contract works

[@CaelusBlackwood]

What an awesome video

[@JonathanJVela]

Just awesome.

[@MrCalverino]

I love the videogame references

[@marclam6173]

And then you have Kirk Cousins with his fully guaranteed contract. Lowkey a genius move on his part considering the bullshit these players go through.

[@Video-Games-Are-Fun]

shyguy?