How much can Patriots players earn during the postseason?

NFL players are paid much differently in the playoffs than the regular season. A majority of players take a hefty pay cut in the postseason, because their salaries have no bearing on what they make during the playoffs. Payments during the playoffs must be made within 15 days after a game has been played. There is a specific amount for each playoff round, and each eligible player gets paid the same: Basically, Tom Brady will be paid the same during the playoffs as Cole Croston.



Postseason pay is considered a benefit, and therefore does not count against the salary cap. There is one exception, per the CBA: when "the Practice Squad Player Contract is executed or renegotiated after December 1 for more than the minimum Practice Squad salary, in which case all salary paid to such a Practice Squad player during the postseason will be counted as Salary."

There are five weeks during the postseason:

1.) Wild-card weekend
2.) Division games - ($28,000)
3.) Conference championship ($51,000)
4.) Super Bowl Bye Week
5.) Super Bowl (Winners - $112,000; Losers - $56,000).

So most of the 79 players on the Patriots roster will earn:
$28,000 if they lose in the divisional round game
$79,000 if they lose in the conference championship game
$135,000 if they finish as Super Bowl runner-ups.
$191,000 if the Patriots repeat as Super Bowl champions

For undrafted players like Adam Butler, Cole Croston and Jacob Hollister, winning the Super Bowl will be more meaningful financially than to most of their teammates since they are only making the $465,000 league minimum salary this season. The additional $191,000 would be almost 41 percent of their 2017 salaries.

To illustrate how much veterans take a paycut during the postseason -- Nate Solder, Devin McCourty, Stephon Gilmore, Rob Gronkowski, and Malcolm Butler all make more money in one regular-season game than they will over the five postseason weeks.

The four players (Andrew Jelks, Chase Farris, Keionta Davis, and Harvey Langi) who are on the Non-Football Illness list and one (Tony Garcia) on the Non-Football Illness will not be paid at all during the postseason.

The ten practice squad players will be paid weekly during the postseason. Because of that, they will be the only Patriots paid on wild-card week (Jan. 6/7) and the bye week after the AFC championship game. Players on teams with first-round byes like the Patriots are essentially practicing for free during wild-card week, since they will not receive payment for that week. The players on the Super Bowl teams are also essentially practicing for free the bye week after the championship games. As an example, James Ferentz will be paid $15,000 each postseason week -- he could earn as much as $75,000 during the playoffs.

Every player on the 53-man roster or on Injured Reserve will be paid the same amount ($28,000) for the divisional round game (Jan.13/14).

Payment eligibility is more complicated for the conference championships and Super Bowl. The payment requirements for these two playoff rounds are outlined below:

Full Amount for AFC championship game and Super Bowl

Players on the 53-man roster when the game is played that have been on the roster for at least three previous games (regular season or playoffs)

1. Brady, Tom


2. Solder, Nate


3. McCourty, Devin


4. Gilmore, Stephon


5. Amendola, Danny


6. Gronkowski, Rob


7. Allen, Dwayne


8. Branch, Alan


9. Chung, Patrick


10. Gostkowski, Stephen


11. Gillislee, Mike


12. Butler, Malcolm


13. Harmon, Duron


14. Burkhead, Rex


15. Hogan, Chris


16. Guy, Lawrence


17. Brown, Malcom


18. Allen, Ryan


19. Fleming, Cameron


20. Slater, Matthew


21. Cooks, Brandin


22. Lewis, Dion


23. Develin, James


24. Ebner, Nate


25. Waddle, LaAdrian


26. Van Noy, Kyle


27. Richards, Jordan


28. Rowe, Eric


29. White, James


30. Thuney, Joe


31. Flowers, Trey


32. Mason, Shaq


33. Bolden, Brandon


34. Cardona, Joe


35. Mitchell, Malcolm


36. Grissom, Geneo


37. Andrews, David


38. Karras, Ted


39. Roberts, Elandon


40. Jones, Jonathan


41. King, Brandon


42. Croston, Cole


43. Bademosi, Johnson


44. Dorsett, Phillip


45. Flowers, Marquis


46. Hoyer, Brian


47. Grigsby, Nicholas


48. Ricky Jean Francois


49. Lee, Eric


50. Hollister, Jacob


51. Britt, Kenny


52. Harris, David

Veterans (at least one year of service) put on injured reserve during the regular season that are still under contract when the game is played.

1. Valentine, Vincent


2. McClellin, Shea


3. Hightower, Dont'a


4. Bennett, Martellus


5. Cannon, Marcus


6. Ebner, Nate

Vested veterans (four or more years of service) put on injured reserve during the preseason that are still under contract when the game is played.

1. Edelman, Julian

Players who aren't on the 53-man roster at game time that spent at least eight games on the roster (regular season or playoffs) provided they're not under contract to another team in the same conference.

1. Garoppolo, Jimmy


2. Marsh, Cassius

Players on the 53-man roster when the game is played that have been on the roster for less than three previous games (regular season or playoffs)

1. Mitchell, Malcolm (if activated)

Players on the 53-man roster when the game is played that have been on the roster for less than three previous games (regular season or playoffs)

1. Harrison, James

Non-vested veterans (one to three years of service) put on injured reserve during the preseason that are still under contract when the game is played.

1. Jones, Cyrus


2. Mitchell, Malcolm (if not activated)

1. Julian Edelman who could have earned $500,000 with eighty receptions and a Super Bowl appearance.


2. Matthew Slater who will earn $50,000 if the Pats either win 13 regular-season games or plays in the Super Bowl.


3. Patrick Chung who will earn $300,000 if the Patriots make it to the Super Bowl and he has played in at least 80 percent of the defensive snaps. Chung has played enough snaps already to accomplish the latter condition.