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One of the things I learned from Michael Lewis's The Blind Side is that how much various parties get paid is a good window into their perceived value by their franchises (in the case of The Blind Side the observation was that left tackles are well-paid in the NFL because they protect the super important quarterback). I know that head coaches and GMs can make a lot in the NFL. For example, here's an article saying that Sean Payton makes $8,000,000 a year. Besides the players, the head coach, and the GM, what tend to be the highest paid roles at an NFL franchise? For example, I've heard it said at a good athletic trainer can make a huge difference. Does the market agree?

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  • This question is unclear until/unless you define "well paid" specifically.
    – Joe
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 6:14
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    I've edited this to change from the subjective "well paid" to the objective "highest paid". With that, I think this can stay open.
    – Philip Kendall
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 11:26

1 Answer 1

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The NFL is a tax-exempt nonprofit. This is why we know the NFL Commissioner's salary(1).

However, the NFL teams themselves do not fall under this tax-exempt distinction, and as such, the salaries of NFL team executives are guarded.

This Bleacher Report article estimates how much NFL team executives make (salary in USD; list does not include the GM or Head Coach based on the question asked):

Vice President: $180,000-$400,000 Salary

Director of Scouting: $95,000-$275,000 Salary

Account Executive: $35,000-$165,000 Salary

Scout: $20,000-$95,000 Salary


However, the Industry Salary Survey(2) was conducted in 2012 among managers and higher-ranked employees from 126 teams who represent the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS. The survey focused on several factors, one of which is compensation. Here are the results with respect to title and compensation (in USD):

Title: Median - Mean

President/CEO/COO level: $425,000 - $409,000

Other C-Level (CFO, CMO, etc.): $355,000 - $335,526

Executive or senior VP level: $340,000 - $325,000

VP level: $165,000 - $194,697

Director level (senior director, associate director, etc.): $105,000 - $115,125

Manager level (senior manager, associate manager, etc.): $65,000 - $69,821

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