With the postseason underway and the Patriots set to open their playoff stretch Sunday, it's important to remember NFL players are paid much differently in the postseason than the regular season.
A majority of players take a hefty pay cut in the postseason because their regular-season salaries have no bearing on what they make during the playoffs. There is a specific amount for each playoff round, and each eligible player gets paid the same: Basically, Rob Gronkowski whose $8 million salary is the highest on the Patriots, will be paid the same during the playoffs as rookie J.C. Jackson.
Let's run through a few important things when it comes to how the financial picture changes for teams and players in the postseason.
Updated on 5:30 PM January 8 after the four personnel transactions made by the Patriots that day
First, 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 - ($29,000)
3.) Conference championship ($54,000)
4.) Super Bowl Bye Week
5.) Super Bowl (Winners - $118,000; Losers - $59,000).
So most of the 77 players on the Patriots roster will earn:
• $29,000 if they lose in the divisional round
• $83,000 if they lose in the conference championship
• $142,000 if they finish as Super Bowl runner-ups.
• $201,000 if the Patriots win the Super Bowl
For rookies and first-year players like Jackson, Keionta Davis and Keion Crossen, winning the Super Bowl will be more meaningful financially than to most of their teammates since they are only making the $480,000 league minimum salary this season. The additional $201,000 would be 41.875 percent of their 2018 salaries.
To illustrate how much veterans take a pay-cut during the postseason, Gronkowski, Tom Brady, Devin McCourty, Dont'a Hightower and Marcus Cannon all make more money in one regular-season game than they will over the five postseason weeks.
The two players (Darren Andrews and Cody Hollister) who are on the Non-Football Illness list 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 were the only Patriots paid on wild-card week (Jan. 5-6). They will be the only Patriots paid during the bye week after the AFC championship game. As an example, Danny Etling will be paid $7,600 each postseason week -- in all, he could earn as much as $38,000 during the playoffs. As a result of being promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster Stephen Anderson goes from making $15,000 this week to $29,000.
Players on teams with first-round byes like the Patriots essentially practiced 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.
Every player on the 53-man roster or on Injured Reserve will be paid the same amount ($29,000) 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)
- Tom Brady
- Devin McCourty
- Stephon Gilmore
- Dont'a Hightower
- Rob Gronkowski
- Dwayne Allen
- Marcus Cannon
- Patrick Chung
- Stephen Gostkowski
- Julian Edelman
- Adrian Clayborn
- Duron Harmon
- Rex Burkhead
- Chris Hogan
- Lawrence Guy
- Malcom Brown
- Ryan Allen
- Jason McCourty
- Matthew Slater
- Cordarrelle Patterson
- Malcolm Brown
- James Develin
- Nate Ebner
- LaAdrian Waddle
- Kyle Van Noy
- Danny Shelton
- Sony Michel
- James White
- Joe Thuney
- Trey Flowers
- Shaq Mason
- Phillip Dorsett
- Joe Cardona
- John Simon
- Duke Dawson
- David Andrews
- Ted Karras
- Elandon Roberts
- Jonathan Jones
- Brandon King
- Derek Rivers
- Adam Butler
- Albert McClellan
- James Ferentz
- Brian Hoyer
- Ramon Humber
- Obi Melinfonwu
- JC Jackson
- Keionta Davis
- Keion Crossen
- Trent Brown
Veterans (at least one year of service) put on injured reserve during the regular season who are still under contract when the game is played.
- Jeremy Hill
- Eric Rowe
- Brian Schwenke
- Jacob Hollister
Vested veterans (four or more years of service) put on injured reserve during the preseason who are still under contract when the game is played.
- Ulrick John
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.
- Nicholas Grigsby
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)
- Ufomba Kamalu
- Stephen Anderson
Players who aren't on the 53-man roster at game time that spent between three and seven games on the roster (regular season or playoffs) provided they're not under contract to another team in the same conference.
- Kenjon Barner