The Vontaze Burfict thing got me wondering about something. If you get fined or suspended enough in the NFL, does it affect your life going forward after football?
So I looked up his lifetime contracts and fines on spotrac, and made the following additional assumptions:
Assume that 3 percent of all money goes to agents off the top, and another 42 percent for taxes (a rough guess, but let's go with it).
Assume that the player has a 50 percent savings rate on the net income. In other words, they're living on half of their money and putting the remainder into their post-NFL savings fund. Obviously that's a rough guess as well that will vary wildly from player to player, but let's go with it.
I'll then assume that the savings at the end can be used to fund living expenses in perpetuity by spending 4 percent of it per year.
Fines and suspension come off the top line, presumably after agent fees, so in the case of Vontaze Burfict:
Burfict
Years in League 8
Contracts $33,480,000
Wealth After Agent Fees $32,475,600
Fines $5,367,000
Wealth After Fines $27,108,600
Wealth After Taxes $15,722,988
Spending $7,861,494
Savings After Spending $7,861,494
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $982,687
Average Annual Spending After Career $314,460
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $438,974
Impact of Fines 28%
So the savings that he would likely have after this season would give him a sustainable income of $314,000 a year. With no fines or suspensions, that income would've been about $439,000 a year. So it's a big bite, though he should still be able to live comfortably for the rest of his life. "Should" being the key word there. [Reply]
Years in League 7
Contracts $5,620,000
Wealth After Agent Fees $5,451,400
Fines $2,091,000
Wealth After Fines $3,360,400
Wealth After Taxes $1,949,032
Spending $974,516
Savings After Spending $974,516
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $139,217
Average Annual Spending After Career $38,981
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $87,492
Impact of Fines 55%
His fines and suspensions are the difference between a post-NFL income of $39,000 and $87,000. That's a notable difference in quality of life. And that's not even considering the costs of marijuana.
Also, given the income losses, even his standard of living in his playing career is only about $139,000 a year. That's not an NFL life. [Reply]
Let's look at the most highly penalized player in NFL history, Dion Jordan. He was a high draft pick who has been suspended for 32 games for substance use and PEDS.
D Jordan
Years in League 6
Contracts $21,808,000
Wealth After Agent Fees
Fines $6,928,000
Wealth After Fines
Wealth After Taxes
Spending $4,125,470
Savings After Spending
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $687,578
Average Annual Spending After Career $165,019
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $325,748
Impact of Fines 49%
These disciplinary losses would cost him about half of his post-NFL sustainable salary, lowering it from $326,000 per year to $165,000 per year. He'll regret that when he's 60. [Reply]
Aldon Smith, who made a career out of being suspended:
Aldon Smith
Years in League 7
Contracts $22,331,000
Wealth After Agent Fees
Fines $4,702,000
Wealth After Fines
Wealth After Taxes
Spending $4,918,130
Savings After Spending
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $702,590
Average Annual Spending After Career $196,725
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $305,812
Impact of Fines 36%
He comes out better than I would've thought. If he was normal (and he's not), he should still be able to make about $197,000 a year off of savings, even though it could've been $306,000 without the suspensions. [Reply]
Daryl Washington of the Cardinals has had his woes with suspensions. Let's look at him.
D. Washington
Years in League 7
Contracts $17,185,000
Wealth After Agent Fees $16,669,450
Fines $3,585,000
Wealth After Fines $13,084,450
Wealth After Taxes $7,588,981
Spending $3,794,491
Savings After Spending $3,794,491
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $542,070
Average Annual Spending After Career $151,780
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $234,952
Impact of Fines 35%
His suspensions will cost him about $83,000 per year for the rest of his life. Drugs are bad. [Reply]
Don't feel bad for Rolando McClain. His suspensions didn't end up costing him that much. Being a first-round pick protects you from financial ruin.
R. Mcclain
Years in League 6
Contracts $24,743,000
Wealth After Agent Fees
Fines $1,475,000
Wealth After Fines
Wealth After Taxes
Spending $6,532,456
Savings After Spending
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $1,088,743
Average Annual Spending After Career $261,298
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $295,518
Impact of Fines 12%
He should still have enough to earn about a quarter-mil a year for life if he didn't blow all his money. Pretty good for a bust. [Reply]
Justin Blackmon was a drug bust. He had a three-year career and missed 12 games to substance abuse suspension. Let's see what that cost him.
J Blackmon
Years in League 3
Contracts $12,521,000
Wealth After Agent Fees
Fines $941,000
Wealth After Fines
Wealth After Taxes
Spending $3,249,267
Savings After Spending
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $1,083,089
Average Annual Spending After Career $129,971
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $151,802
Impact of Fines 14%
So for him, his standard of living is expected to decline from $152,000 per year to $130,000 per year. That's a good pension for a guy who only played three years, but I'm willing to bet that he's not spending his money wisely. He'll be bankrupt soon even though he doesn't need to be. [Reply]
Ndamukong Suh racked up a lot of fines for stomping on people, but he managed to avoid getting suspended for the most part (other than once for stomping on a guy), so his disciplinary costs are paltry compared to his enormous income. Combine that with the fact that he's financially savvy, and this probably underestimates his post-NFL income.
N. Suh
Years in League 3
Contracts $147,965,000
Wealth After Agent Fees $143,526,050
Fines $681,000
Wealth After Fines $142,845,050
Wealth After Taxes $82,850,129
Spending $41,425,065
Savings After Spending $41,425,065
Average Annual Spending in Playing Career $13,808,355
Average Annual Spending After Career $1,657,003
Average Annual Spending After Career w/ No Fines $1,672,802
Impact of Fines 1%
His fines will lower his post-NFL income from about $1.67 million per year to $1.65 million per year. He's smart enough that he'll find some sort of investment to offset that, so he can relax on his couch and think back fondly about stomping people in the head. [Reply]
My conclusion from this is that more than anyone else in the NFL, Josh Gordon well and truly ****ed himself with his suspensions. He's going to be living in a cheap apartment in 20 years, checking the coupons in the Sunday paper for soup specials. [Reply]
That is interesting. I never knew fines were tax deductible until i just looked it up. Turns out they are. In a nutshell, only a fine from the govt is not tax deductible, the NFL fines are basically a tax deductible work expense. [Reply]