Those lower-paid players may want the extra check
The 17-game season was a big talking point. Especially after there was a report that there would be a $250,000 cap on that game. Well, that cap has been lifted:
A few notes on NFLPA reps voting overnight to pass along proposed CBA to all players:
– Vote was 17-14 (1 abstained)
– Owners agreed to remove $250K cap on 17th game check for existing contracts, but rejected proposal to shorten offseason
– Timing of final vote to ratify TBD
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 26, 2020
Even if it wasn’t lifted, there’s a real question about how many NFL players it would affect. It was intended to only cap players who would earn more than that in a single game check. That seems like it would a lot.
The NFL owners proposed a maximum of $250,000 for Week 17 game check on contracts already signed is in such bad faith. 47% of the league’s starters make more than $250,000 a game!
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 21, 2020
Except if we read that closely that’s 47 percent of starters only. That’s not a ton of players. Here’s the math:
(47 % of 22 starters) 10.34 x 32 = 331 players
42.64 (assuming 53 man roster) other players on the active roster don’t make more than the max according to Darren’s numbers.
42.64 x 32 equals 1364 players who don’t make enough to worry about the to the max.
As we all know, playing in the NFL is an unforgiving profession and most players don’t make millions of dollars per game. That’s 1364 players getting an extra paycheck. A lot of them will probably never make a huge contract. That extra paycheck is a big deal.