Do NFL Players Have Injury Insurance?

Yes, NFL Players get paid on Injured Reserve but the amount they receive depends on the nature of the contract signed with the team. 

If the player’s deal consists of a clause of “guaranteed money” then the footballer is likely to get paid the full endorsement as promised in the contract. But, only a few of the players get to sign such strong and magnanimous contracts, generally the ones with a lot of leverage.

Those under the standard split contract (where payment is made on the basis of the number of games played vs. number of games missed) or without the “guaranteed money” clause in their deal, will get only a fraction of their contract money when on Injured reserve.

Injured reserve NFL salary is 40 to 70 percent reduced amount of what the players are getting as per their regular payroll agreed on the contract.

Let’s take Damar Hamlin for instance. Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was placed on IR for only one game for the 2022-2023 season and got his salary reduced by $20,555.60. 

If he would have missed the entire season, then his $3.64 million deal which was due to earn him $825,000 this year would only have paid him $455,000 because of his split salary contract. That is a 45% reduction in salary.

Do NFL Players Get Paid If They Are Injured?

Yes, NFL players get paid a reduced salary if they are injured by playing football under the team’s supervision or within the NFL-owned facility. 

The player might not get paid in all other cases except for those mentioned above and teams’ training camps and practices. The team is not obliged to pay the player if he has to sit out due to “Non-football Injuries” and is not covered by the standard contractual injury guarantee.

American Football is undoubtedly a violent sport. According to the 2017 Harvard Analysis, the average rate of injury in the National Football League is 5.90 injuries per game. The rate is 0.16 in NBA, 0.45 in MLB, and 0.59 in NHL. 

Maybe due to this risk, the teams don’t show interest in signing long-term guaranteed deals with players but this is the same risk reason that demands financial security to the players.

Injured Reserve in the NFL means the list of players who have suffered injuries that are serious enough to keep them off from one or more games.

The right to decide a player’s status is up to the team. A footballer can not choose not to be on the IR list. The athlete in the list will still be under the contract of the team getting a reduced salary or guaranteed money if in the contract but cannot play or practice with the franchise during the injury period. 

The IR-listed player doesn’t count among the active men roster of the team. If a footballer hits the list before the start of the regular season, he is forced to sit on the list the entire season. 

NFL Injured Reserve Rules

• Players on injured reserve are not eligible to play for their team
• A team can place the desired number of players on the list without any limitation
• Only eight players in total can return to the active roster and game from the IR for Non-football injuries list
• Each player can return a maximum of up to two times as designated by the team
• Before returning to the active roster, the player should be on the list at least for four games.
• There is no limit to the length of the players being on the IR list. A team can place athletes on the list even twice.
• When a player returns back in practice, he must be placed on the active roster within 21 days else he will be out of the season

Other Similar Terms

Physically Unable To Perform List (PUP)

The PUP list is the list of players who have been considered unable to play on the team physically. The players can still participate in the team’s other activities but cannot practice with them.

The PUP-listed players still receive their base salary entirely and the contract is not suspended as long as they are not in the last year of their deal, cannot play up to the six games of the regular season, and are not active during their regular or post-season games.

Non-Football-Injury List (NFI)

The NFI list contains those players who suffered injuries outside the team’s supervision or NFL facility or practicing non-NFL activities. 

The player on this list doesn’t receive any salary but the contract will still be active. The athlete and the team can still negotiate the rate of payment. The contract will be tolled if the player is in his last year of the deal and the player cannot return to the field by the team’s sixth game in the regular season. 

If the player is removed from the list in the window designated by the League, the contract terms will still prevail.

Yes, an injured player can be traded in the NFL as long as the team meets the trading deadline decided by the NFL each season. 

The team which has acquired the IR player can immediately designate them to return to the active roster if the previously associated team did so already. 

Teams were not allowed to trade players on Injured Reserve lists before 2018. Article XVII, Section 17.16 was reversed in March 2018.

The General Manager of the Denver Broncos, John Elway and Co. was the one who proposed the amendment of the rule in front of the League.

Similarly, if a player is not going to be designated in the IR list, the player can also be waived offering them an injury settlement offer. If the player accepts the deal, he immediately becomes an unrestricted free agent and any team can sign him within 24 hours.

And if the athlete is not signed by any of the teams within 24 hours waiver period, he can be retained by the same team and designated in the Injured reserve list. 

The player in the Reserve/Injury category can also be released or cut. 

Yes, NFL players can take painkillers during games. They have been taking the drug named Toradol either in the form of injection or oral pills.

It is a brand name for the ketorolac drug which is the stronger and faster-active version than Advil or Aleve which is generally used to fix the pain or hurt quickly. 

This has been a culture of the league that whenever a player is hurt, he would fall in line for the Toradol doses and just get a shot to mask up his pain and gets back to the field again. 

The use of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is spreading widely over the league, from team to team not just to fulfill the purpose of painkillers but also to power up professional football players against the inevitable impact and injuries. 

The situation has gotten so extreme now that a team’s win of any championship title counts on the uses of the drug, not only to kill the pain but to boost the players up in the field. Not caring about its long-term effects. 

The medicine was released for medical use in severe pain conditions including those post-operative hurts and doses are indeed to be given in the most limited amount. But the scenarios are different in NFL.

In 2021, NFLPA released a memo saying, “the risk of Toradol causing major bleeding, Toradol should not be used prior to, during, or after NFL games or practices as a means of reducing anticipated pain.”

It further reads, “Toradol should typically be used in its oral form, rather than injected, and injections should only take place following an acute, game-related injury where visceral or central nervous system bleeding is not expected and where other oral or intranasal pain medications are inadequate or not tolerated.”

There are several side effects reported for the use of such medicines which include kidney disease and others, causing excessive bleeding in the injured area as well as internally. Yet, the use is massive. Several Lawsuits have been filed but the League sits deafen. 

NFL training camp injuries 2023 are Joe Burrow’s calf injury and Jimmy Garoppolo’s foot injury. Cooper Kupp is out with a hamstring injury.

Let’s look at the list of other players and their injuries in the training camp:

• Tim Patrick (WR) – Denver Broncos – Leg torn ACL
• Jalen Ramsey (CB) – Miami Dolphins – knee
•  Kadarius Toney (WR) – The Chiefs – Knee
•  C.J. Gardner-Johnson (DB) – The Lions – Leg
•  Zack Moss (RB) – The Colts – arm
•  Kenneth Walker III (RB) – The Seahawks – groin
• Zach Charbonnet (RB) – The Seahawks – shoulder
• Donovan Wilson (S) – The Cowboys – calf
•  Trai Turner (G) – The Saints – quadriceps

Most Injured Team In NFL

Most injured team in NFL is the New York Giants with 9 injured players. The Seahawks have 7 and the Chiefs have 6 injured players.

Let’s go through the list of teams with their number of injured players from most to the least:

1. The New York Giants – 9 
2. Seattle Seahawks – 7
3. Kansas City Chiefs – 6
4. Detroit Lions – 6
5. Denver Broncos – 6
6. Carolina Panthers – 6
7. Baltimore Ravens – 6
8. Arizona Cardinals – 5
9. Buffalo Bills – 5
10. Cincinnati Bengals – 5
11. Dallas Cowboys – 5
12. Houston Texans – 5
13. Jacksonville Jaguars – 5
14. Las Vegas Raiders – 5
15. Miami Dolphins – 5
16. New York Jets – 5
17. New England Patriots – 5
18. Tennessee Titans – 4
19. Indianapolis Colts – 4
20. Green Bay Packers – 4
21. Cleveland Browns – 4
22. Los Angeles Chargers – 3
23. Minnesota Vikings – 3
24. New Orlean Saints – 3
25. San Fransisco 49ers – 3
26. Pittsburgh Steelers – 2
27. Los Angeles Rams – 2
28. Atlanta Falcons – 2
29. Chicago Bears – 1
30. Philadelphia Eagles – 1
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 1
32. Washington Commanders – 1

No, NFL players don’t get paid when suspended. They would lose their base salaries as well as the game cheques for the missed one during the suspension.

The Franchise is not compelled to pay the suspended player any money. The player can also be subjected to a fine of thousands of dollars.

The suspension has a long-term impact on a player’s career. If you get suspended several times then you might be thrown out of the League as no team will want to keep you and you might lose your entire career. 

The player thus suspended is not counted towards the roster limits and is cut off from the base payment promised in the contract. 

Do NFL Players Get Paid For Playoffs?

Yes, players get paid for playoffs (not the salaries) but extra money for all players on the 53-men roster and IR. The amount is $41,500 for wild card teams.

$46,500 is awarded to divisional winners for wild card games, $46,500 for the divisional round and the conference champions will receive $69,000. 

The rates for NFL Playoffs are listed below:

• $46,500 for divisional winners (wild card round participants)
• $41,500 for other wild card teams
• $41,500 for first-round byes – wild card games
• $46,500 – divisional playoffs
• $69,000 – Conference Championship 
• $157,000 – Super Bowl Winners
• $82,000 – Super Bowl Losers

NFL player injuries and suspensions at present are tabulated below:

NFL Players With Torn Achilles List

• D. Jackson
• M. Woods II
• T. Patrick
• D. Smoot
• N. Needham
• B. O’Neill
• R. McMillan
• A. Rogers