Do NFL Players Deserve The Contracts Top NBA Players Get?

Should top NFL players earn as much as top NBA players? It’s an interesting game question posed by DeAndre Hopkins as he, and other NFL players around the league, quote tweeted emojis and called their parents questioning them why they put them in football instead of basketball.

Yesterday NBA free agency began. It has kind of, sort of already ended. Klay Thompson will make $37.9 million this year, Tobias Harris $36 million, Khris Middleton $35.6 million, Kristaps Porzingis $31.65 million, and Nicola Vucevic will make $25 million. Some of these players are coming off major injuries. Some are just really good, not great. One failed to hit anything in the postseason once Toronto swarmed Giannis in the paint. One hasn’t played since 2017. Another averaged just 15.5 points in the NBA Playoffs despite playing 36 minutes a game. Additionally, these four to five year contracts will give these players $140+ million, just about all of it is guaranteed.

The NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement ends after this season. The league and players will have to renegotiate. If you had to bet, you’d guess a lockout of some sort will happen. The players have already been told to start saving money. The league will push for 18 games. The players will push for fully guaranteed contracts, contracts like the players in the NBA get, despite the fact the NBA players play 66 more regular season games a year.

It’s a difficult question. I do think NFL players should be paid more, on the bottom end especially, and they are, as the salary cap increases every year. Most importantly, NFL contracts should be fully guaranteed. The league could keep the current structure for cap purposes, but teams would have to pay out the entire contract.

Next summer is going to be messy.

What do you think? What’s your answer to DeAndre Hopkins’ question?