The 2016 NBA free agency period started as soon as the clock hit midnight on Friday morning, and so far, it's been a great day for a handful of NBA free agents. As a result of an increase in the NBA salary cap, just about every player who has signed a new deal on Friday has gotten a huge raise and will make significantly more money than they would have made if they had signed a new contract just one year ago. Jeremy Lin inked a three-year, $36 million deal with the Nets. Hassan Whiteside got a four-year, $98 million deal from the Heat. And even Timofey Mozgov—who played just 25 minutes and scored just 7 points during the 2016 NBA Finals for the Cavaliers—received a four-year, $64 million deal from the Lakers. The guaranteed money that guys are getting this summer is insane.
Everyone is having trouble wrapping their minds around these kinds of salaries, but no one's having a tougher time with it than NFL players. Unlike NBA contracts, NFL contracts are not guaranteed, which means most players will only see a portion of what their contracts call for them to get. Additionally, NFL players who aren't named Andrew Luck or Cam Newton don't usually sign contracts like the ones NBA teams are handing out right now—the average NFL salary is just $1.9 million, while the average NBA salary tops $5 million (and is only going to go up from here, based on the salary cap increase!). And the risk associated with playing in the NFL is far greater than the risk associated with playing just about any other sport, so NFL players have long wondered why they aren't rewarded for it.
With those things in mind, there are quite a few NFL players using Twitter on Friday to sound off on the contracts NBA players are signing. Some have been congratulatory, while others have openly contemplated why they didn't play basketball instead of football. But all of them have been just as surprised as the rest of us to see the dollar signs next to the latest batch of NBA contracts. Here are some of their reactions...
Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin ($10 million salary next season):
Bills defensive tackle Jerel Worthy ($600,000 salary next season):
Ravens wide receiver Jeremy Butler ($525,000 salary next season):
Browns practice squad safety Sean Baker ($6,600 per week salary next season):
Falcons fullback Patrick DiMarco ($760,000 salary next season):
Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy ($12.5 million salary next season):
Saints running back C.J. Spiller ($3.25 million next season):
Gerald McCoy again:
Dolphins linebacker Spencer Paysinger ($840,000 salary next season):
Dolphins tight end Dominique Jones ($675,000 salary next season):
It's hard to feel too bad for NFL players making hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. But it's not hard to see why they might feel some type of way about making hundreds of thousands of dollars while mediocre NBA players are now making tens of millions.
