First round draft picks in this year’s NFL Draft are expected to sign contracts worth between $16 million and upwards of $55 million, but they’ll also gain access to a 401(k) plan being lauded by financial advisors for its generous employer match.
Most U.S. 401(k) plans offer employer matches of roughly 3% to 4% of salary, often structured as 50 cents on the dollar up to 6% of pay. Under the NFL’s 401(k), called the Second Career Savings Plan, teams contribute two dollars for every dollar a player contributes—effectively serving a 200% match. Employee contributions are capped at $24,500 for 2026, meaning total annual contributions could reach $73,500 before investment returns.
“It’s free money, basically, You're crazy not to do it,” said Brandon Wilson, a former NFL player turned advisor for WFA, a Louisiana-based firm affiliated with RFG Advisory. “There's a lot of benefits. You got the 401K, you got the CAP plan [Capital Accumulation Plan], you get the annuity, a pension. You get five years of free insurance when you're done playing, you get severance. It’s great for the players.”
Players need at least three credited seasons to become vested over a multi-year schedule the NFL’s 401(k) plan, as explained by St. Louis-based advisory firm Moment Private Wealth. A “credited season” amounts to appearing on a roster for three or more regular or post-season games, according to Moment Private Wealth advisor Scott Morrison.
“Rookies are automatically enrolled. The contribution starts with their first paycheck. Most won't touch the settings. Most won't know what they're invested in. Most won't understand what they're sitting on,” Morrison wrote on LinkedIn. “That's the gap between an athlete who builds wealth and one who doesn't. And it starts before the first regular-season snap.”
The NFL Players Association's Financial Advisors Registration Program is the union’s established program for providing players with access to financial advisors. Institutions that have been approved as member firms over the years include Ameriprise, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Bessemer Trust, Morgan Stanley and Bernstein Private Wealth.
U.S. Bank announced a multi-year deal earlier this month to become the NFL’s official bank and wealth management sponsor. U.S. Bank’s new Financial Edge program will provide financial guidance to players through seminars and one-on-one educational coaching.
“Wealth advisors will be serving players where they are, so whether it's in a market where they're playing or if they have a home base that they would prefer to have an advisor in, they'll be in that market,” Stephen Philipson, US Bank’s vice chair and head of wealth, corporate, commercial and institutional banking, told InvestmentNews.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who was picked first overall by the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, was named chief financial playmaker at US Bank to assist with developing programming for Financial Edge. Former NFL player Steven Israel has been hired as a wealth management consultant at US Bank; he previously worked at JPMorgan Private Bank and Bank of America Private Bank.
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