OLC: Dumb Football Questions: Are NFL practice squad players RICH?; Do NFL captains matter?

“Nobody gave a fuck about practice squad guys.” That’s how former NFL offensive lineman Alex Boone remembers his time on the practice squad in 2014, when he was making $4,000 a week for 17 weeks—and that was it. No insurance, no union protection, no guarantee you’d even be allowed to eat the team’s chicken wings. On this episode of the O-Line Committee, Boone, Jeremiah Sirles, and Phil Mackey field a series of “dumb football questions” from fans, and the conversation reveals just how much the financial and social reality of the practice squad has changed—and how much it hasn’t.

The Practice Squad Paycheck: From $68,000 to $237,000

The central debate kicked off when a fan asked whether practice squad players are “rich.” The answer, the panel agreed, depends entirely on when you played. Boone recalled making $4,000 a week in 2014, which works out to about $68,000 for the season—and that was before taxes, rent in San Francisco, and agent fees. “You were so poor your agent doesn’t even charge you dues,” Boone said. Sirles, who was on the practice squad around the same time, described the surreal experience of cashing his first active-roster check—$28,000 for two weeks—and realizing it was a quarter of his entire practice squad salary for the year.