A lot of XFL fans and media have been pondering over what the final player pool will look like for the XFL. With NFL training camp starting, one topic I’m seeing discussed a lot right now is: what players will come over to the XFL after they miss making their team’s 53-man roster? It’s fun to speculated and project who these potential XFL stars could be, but there is one question that I’m not seeing asked or answered; will these players want to? It’s easy to say “of course they will, they’ll get a chance to play, get paid, and get more on-field tape,” but what about the risk.
The Contract
One of the many differences between the XFL and the most recent failed spring league, the AAF, is the XFL will not be adding NFL out clauses to their contracts. In the AAF, they allowed players to leave for the NFL despite being under contract, as they saw themselves as a developmental league for the NFL. The XFL is hoping to be its own standalone product and naturally they don’t want to risk losing their best players to the NFL while under contract (like what happened with the AAF and the first pick in their Pick or Protect QB Draft, Josh Johnson signing with the Redskins). The XFL player draft is set to go down sometime in October of this year, sometime between weeks 5 and 8 of the NFL season. This leaves some players with a difficult decision; do you roll the dice on someone getting injured or cut in the NFL for another shot on a roster or practice squad, or take the guaranteed* money in the XFL.
The Money
The XFL will have a tiered pay system that goes like this per team:
- Tier 1 – 1 Player – $250K base that can go up to $600K with bonuses.
This will be each team’s starting quarterback. - Tier 2 – 3 Players – $150K – $175K
This will most likely be your top skill guys. Maybe a top receiver, edge rusher, and/or defensive back. - Tier 3 – 23 Players – $70K – $100K
This is the meat of the roster. Starters and primary rotational players - Tier 4 – 18 Players – $50K – $70K
This will be the backups and specialists
For the NFL, we could do a whole article on 2019 salaries (or you could just check out this article from FootballNextLevel.com). But here are the points for the sake of this discussion:
- Players earn a minimum based off # of years experience. For a rookie, its $495K or ~$29K per week.
- Practice squad players (up to 10 per team) will make $8K per week, or $136K if they stay on the practice squad all season.
- Players earn a minimum 3 game checks if signed by another team off the practice squad
The Dilemma
This brings us to our dilemma. With the draft being right around the mid-way point of the NFL season, will a player risk losing out on an NFL opportunity to go ahead and sign with the XFL? The players I’m looking at specifically are young players (recent late round picks or UDFAs) and the hang-around veterans. Some vets, like Trent Richardson and Matt Elam, have talked about the interest they have received from NFL teams. If they go unsigned at the start of the season, will they want to wait until after the NFL season to come over to the XFL? Take Lions OL Luke Bowanko for example. Last season he spent camp with the New England Patriots but was released in the final 53-man roster cuts. He then signed with the Washington Redskins on November 5th following a slew of injuries to their offensive line and went on to start 3 games, earning over $370K. He would have missed that opportunity had he signed with the XFL. Could he have started and dominated games in the XFL? Absolutely, but this is the dilemma players face.
For the young guys, the dilemma comes down to not only money but the dream. For many of these guys, they’ve dreamt their whole lives about playing on Sundays in the NFL. And for many, they’ll want to make sure that every path to that dream is exhausted before exploring something else. This is why it could take a season or 2 for the XFL to be considered a path to that dream and even longer to be considered a dream within itself.
The Outcome
There are multiple other reasons why or why-not a player would want to sign with the XFL, but all I’m saying is pump the breaks on assuming every eligible player is going to join the pool. The XFL has enormous potential (we saw a lot of that in the AAF) but this first season will have its bumps and bruises. This biggest area I believe that will struggle, in part because of this dilemma, is the offensive line. Out of the pool of players from the Summer Showcases, the offensive line seems to be the weakest group on paper. They will need some of these come-overs from NFL cuts to help the XFL be successful. If the XFL has a successful first season, I could see more players making the jump after getting cut in the NFL in the future.
Leave a Reply