When a marquee NFL player signs a new contract, the money involved is often eye-watering. However, somewhat shockingly, that money can pale in comparison to the salary paid to top soccer players under contract in European soccer leagues, such as Lionel Messi. With contract talks failing between Messi and Barcelona, let’s examine how his reported salary would have compared to NFL contracts.
Lionel Messi’s salary was reportedly set to be around $300,000 per week
No, you did not read that wrong, Messi’s new contract was expected to pay him a whopping $300,000 a week. That breaks down at around $42,750 per day, $1.3 million per month, and $15.6 million per year. Oh, and that is just his salary. It does not include any signing or performance-related bonuses, which may have been paid on top of that salary. It is worth adding, that his new contract was expected to be around a 50 percent pay cut on his previous deal.
Messi’s previous contract reportedly contained a renewal bonus of $140 million with a further loyalty bonus of around $95 million. Whether he will get that same amount again is not yet known. However, given his previous salary of around $610,000 per week, the value of Messi’s previous contract was around $265 million for a reported four years. Still, once again, that does not include performance bonuses, which often add significantly to the total. According to Forbes, Messi reportedly earned $97 million in on-field earnings in the 12 months leading up to the list’s release.
How would Messi’s salary have compared to NFL player’s contracts?
Messi is one of three soccer players to appear on the Forbes Top 10 list in 2021. He led Portugal star, Cristiano Ronaldo, by $27 million in on-field earnings and Brazilian Neymar by $21 million. Two NFL players made that list: Dak Prescott and Tom Brady. Messi has featured in the top 10 since 2013. Additionally, he placed third on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid athletes from 2010 to 2019.
No NFL players are featured on the decade-long list, and while at least one NFL player has appeared on the yearly top 10 since 2016, no player has appeared twice in that time. This is due to NFL players generally receiving a lump sum of money in a single year as a signing bonus or roster bonus, followed by slightly lower earnings in the following years. 2014 is the last time Messi did not earn at least $50 million in on-field earnings.
Let’s take a look at how Messi’s salary would have compared to players in the NFL.
How would Messi’s per-week salary have compared to NFL contracts?
If Messi had signed a contract for the reported $300,000 per week, he would have earned nearly as much in two weeks as a freshly drafted rookie’s yearly salary if he is on a minimum contract ($660,000). At $1.3 million per month, Messi earns more in salary in that period than a seven-plus-year veteran earns per year on a minimum salary.
How would Messi’s per-game salary compare with NFL players?
Soccer contracts are structured differently from NFL contracts in that a player is paid their salary all year round. In contrast, NFL player salaries are only paid in the season and are paid per game. If we take Messi’s reported salary of $300,000 per week and divide that by the number of games he plays for Barcelona a season, it works out at around $350,000 per game. Therefore, around 130 NFL players will earn more base salary per game than Messi in 2021.
Comparing Messi’s average earnings to NFL players
In terms of the average annual value of NFL contracts, Patrick Mahomes leads the way at $45 million per year. He is followed by Prescott ($40 million), Deshaun Watson ($39 million), and Russell Wilson ($35 million). Not surprisingly, the highest-paid players in the NFL are quarterbacks.
Just in terms of his reported base salary, Messi would rank 73rd among NFL contracts in AAV at $15.6 million. However, those numbers for NFL players include signing bonuses and roster bonuses throughout the contract. Messi is expected to receive a five-year contract from Barcelona.
Ben Rolfe is a content director at Pro Football Network and is also a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA). You can find him on Twitter @BenRolfePFN.