Most Pro Bowlers make far less money for the Pro Bowl than they make for a typical regular season game. Richard Sherman thinks that’s a problem.
The losing players in the Pro Bowl make $30,000 and the winning players make $61,000. Not bad for a week’s work for most people, but that translates to a $510,000 salary during the regular season for the losing players and a $1,037,000 salary during the regular season for the winning players. The vast majority of Pro Bowlers make much more than that, and are therefore playing the Pro Bowl at a discount.
Sherman’s idea is simple: Pay the players their normal weekly salary for the Pro Bowl, which for Sherman would be almost $800,000.
“Pay a guy what he makes per game. That would help a lot,” Sherman told ESPN. “If you pay a guy what he makes per game, he would probably play like it’s a game. A lot of these guys make a nice, decent chunk of change. That’s why a lot of guys don’t play. If you told them they’re making a game check, I guarantee you not many guys [would be] passing up Pro Bowls.”
Sherman’s deal actually wouldn’t be a good one for everybody: Chiefs rookie return man Tyreek Hill, for instance, made $61,000 for the Pro Bowl after making $26,470 a week during the regular season. So Sherman’s plan would need some tweaks.
But he raises an interesting point: If the NFL wants more players to attend the Pro Bowl, and wants those players to take the game seriously, why not pay them serious money?
