In the NFL, salary is defined as “…the compensation in money, property, investments, loans or anything else of value to which an NFL player…is entitled in accordance with a Player Contract, but not including benefits (NFL CBA, p. 90). A player and team can agree to different types of payments that can affect the salary in different ways, and these payments are counted against the salary cap in different ways. Read the Front Office Football’s NFL Contracts Explained section for more information.
As for NFL minimum salaries, they are determined in relation to a player’s NFL Experience. The league measures time spent in relation to minimum salary by the number of “Credited Seasons” (explained here) a player has completed. This article in the CBA, entitled “salaries” sets the floor for NFL players.
The chart below displays the minimum P5 Salaries a team can contract a player to by Credited Seasons (CS) served in the NFL. These are the minimums for members of a team’s Active or Inactive. (Amounts are in thousands.)
| #CS | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 0 | $450 | $465 | $480 | $495 | $510 |
| 1 | $525 | $540 | $555 | $570 | $585 |
| 2 | $600 | $615 | $630 | $645 | $660 |
| 3 | $675 | $690 | $705 | $720 | $735 |
| 4-6 | $760 | $775 | $790 | $805 | $820 |
| 7-9 | $885 | $900 | $915 | $930 | $945 |
| 10+ | $985 | $1000 | $1015 | $1030 | $1045 |
(Article 26, Section 1, 146)
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