Ndamukong Suh paying to play this weekend

Getting to the playoffs is allegedly a huge reward for a professional athlete, but after his fine, Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will pay to play Sunday.

Every professional football player wants to go to the playoffs and potentially win a Super Bowl.

But it’s obvious they’re not doing it for the financial gain.

Joel Corry put together information this week for National Football Post that details how players are paid for the postseason and, honestly, it’s a bit of a letdown.

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Then again, if someone wanted to give me that check for a week, I wouldn’t kick it back.

But the guys playing this weekend are either going to make $22,000 or $24,000 for the wild-card round.

The division winners playing—the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers in the NFC and the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts—will earn $24,000 per player.

The other four teams—the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals—will get $22,000 a man.

That means Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is actually paying the NFL for the privilege of playing against Dallas on Sunday.

Suh was, of course, fined $70,000 for his two-step on the leg of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Week 17.

Since his game check for this week will only be $22,000, Suh is forking over $48,000 when it’s all said and done.

With a base salary this season of $12.55 million, Suh’s 16 game checks this season were $784,375 before taxes.

So a $22,000 paycheck is like, not that exciting.

But even a player making the league minimum of $495,000 a season earns $30,937.50 per game.

Or almost $9,000 more than a guy on wild-card team playing this weekend.

For the divisional playoffs, every player will receive $24,000 for the game.

For the conference championships and the Super Bowl, it just gets strange.

Players receive $44,000 for the conference title game. But depending on their individual situation, they will either get the full amount or half of that, $22,000, and guys not even on the club can get paid for the game.

Jan 3, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant (10) carries the ball as Baltimore Ravens cornerback Antoine Cason (23) chases in the second quarter during the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

For instance, if the Panthers reach the NFC Championship, Antoine Cason would receive $44,000.

Except that Antoine Cason has been with Baltimore for almost a month now.

The Panthers cut Cason after 12 games and he signed with the Ravens in Week 15.

But players who aren’t on the 53-man roster at game time, but spent at least eight games on the roster receive the full $44,000 share … unless they’re under contract with another team in the same conference.

Since Cason is now in the AFC, he gets paid for the game if Carolina gets there.

Dec 14, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Percy Harvin (16) carries the ball against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports /

Similarly, Percy Harvin of the New York Jets will receive $22,000 If the Seattle Seahawks reach the NFC Championship and either $24,500 or $48,500 if they get to the Super Bowl.

Half-amounts are paid to players no longer on the 53-man roster who are not under contract to a team in the same conference if they were on the roster between three and seven games.

The winner’s share for the Super Bowl is $97,000. The losing team’s players will receive $49,000.

That makes the maximum payout for a player $189,000—provided he comes from a division winner that played in the divisional round.

The maximum for a player on a team with a first-round bye—the aforementioned Seahawks and Packers in the NFC and the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos in the AFC—is $165,000.

Players who are on injured reserve are paid for the wild-card and divisional rounds, while their share is dependent upon their status for the two later rounds of the postseason.

Veterans (at least one year) put on injured reserve during the season receive full shares. Vested veterans (at least four years) on injured reserve receive full shares regardless of when they went on injured reserve.

Rookies on injured reserve or non-vested veterans placed on injured reserve in the preseason receive half shares.

Confusing? You bet your bippy it is.

There are also players who qualify for quarter shares of conference championship and Super Bowl money. Those would be first-year players placed on injured reserve during the preseason, but who have spent at least eight games on a practice squad in a prior season or spent one or two games on a 53-man roster or injured reserve in a prior season.

Any way you slice it, it seems a little over-complicated … and extraordinarily cheap for a league raking in upwards of $10 billion in revenue.

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