In my post last week, I set up the proposed division structure for the Collegiate Professional Football League. It is the wild west in the age of NIL but now it is time to reign in the finances so that all the teams in the league can thrive financially. The CPFL will have a salary cap and rules that govern finances and player eligibility. The hard cap is 30 million plus 1 million for practice squad and reserve funding. Here is my stab at it. Other Commissioners are free to add comments are straight trash it. My feelings will not get hurt.
· A HARD salary cap ensures that all schools in the league are competitive. No Mark Cubans, Larry Ellisons or other billionaires writing NIL checks for the best players. Sorry Texa$ and rest of the SEC. The rules apply to you too. The NFL cap allows teams like the Chiefs and Titans to make Superbowl appearances. The NFL gets a chunk of their money for TV contracts and licensing.
· The active player roster limit is 75 plus 10 practice squad for a total of 85. If schools like Michigan want to pay 10 million for a QB then the other 20 million must be allocated for the other 74 players.
· Eligibility for on field play is five years instead of four. However, this is a league tier below the NFL, so the age limit is 18 – 24. Players who turn 25 before the start of the playoffs are ineligible.
· For five years of playing eligibility players are limited to two transfers unless released by their team or dropped to the practice squad. The transfer window is after the title game and teams not making playoffs can release players at end of the Fall semester.
· Active Roster tryouts for transfers is in the summer to allow players time to workout for multiple teams and get signed.
· If a player signs a two-year contract, 75% of the money is guaranteed and they cannot transfer for two years. This means schools will need to manage dead cap money or only do one-year contracts.
I did some tweaking using co-pilot to play with the numbers and position groups (QB, LB, etc) to produce the salary break downs. I have the backup QB getting 900k. NFL backups get up to 7 million and this figure might keep kids from trying to chase the next bag. Here it goes. Like, comment, or call me crazy.
College Football Team Salary Cap Chart
Total Cap: $30,000,000
Roster Size: 75 Players
Reserve Cap: $1,000,000 (250k for Practice Squad)
Practice Squad: 10 players, 25k per player
Minimum Salary: $100,000 per player
Salary Pools by Position (Priority Order)
Quarterbacks (4 Players — $4.5M)
Wide Receivers (10 Players — $3.6M)
Rush End / EDGE (6 Players — $3.0M)
Offensive Line (12 Players — $3.0M)
Linebackers (8 Players — $2.7M)
Defensive Backs (12 Players — $2.7M)
Defensive Line (Interior) — 6 Players — $2.4M
Running Backs (6 Players — $1.8M)
Tight Ends (4 Players — $1.5M)
Specialists (3 Players — $1.2M)
Summary
· A HARD salary cap ensures that all schools in the league are competitive. No Mark Cubans, Larry Ellisons or other billionaires writing NIL checks for the best players. Sorry Texa$ and rest of the SEC. The rules apply to you too. The NFL cap allows teams like the Chiefs and Titans to make Superbowl appearances. The NFL gets a chunk of their money for TV contracts and licensing.
· The active player roster limit is 75 plus 10 practice squad for a total of 85. If schools like Michigan want to pay 10 million for a QB then the other 20 million must be allocated for the other 74 players.
· Eligibility for on field play is five years instead of four. However, this is a league tier below the NFL, so the age limit is 18 – 24. Players who turn 25 before the start of the playoffs are ineligible.
· For five years of playing eligibility players are limited to two transfers unless released by their team or dropped to the practice squad. The transfer window is after the title game and teams not making playoffs can release players at end of the Fall semester.
· Active Roster tryouts for transfers is in the summer to allow players time to workout for multiple teams and get signed.
· If a player signs a two-year contract, 75% of the money is guaranteed and they cannot transfer for two years. This means schools will need to manage dead cap money or only do one-year contracts.
I did some tweaking using co-pilot to play with the numbers and position groups (QB, LB, etc) to produce the salary break downs. I have the backup QB getting 900k. NFL backups get up to 7 million and this figure might keep kids from trying to chase the next bag. Here it goes. Like, comment, or call me crazy.
College Football Team Salary Cap Chart
Total Cap: $30,000,000
Roster Size: 75 Players
Reserve Cap: $1,000,000 (250k for Practice Squad)
Practice Squad: 10 players, 25k per player
Minimum Salary: $100,000 per player
| Position Group | Cap % | Total Allocation |
| Quarterback | 15% | $4,500,000 |
| Wide Receiver | 12% | $3,600,000 |
| Rush End (EDGE) | 10% | $3,000,000 |
| Offensive Line | 10% | $3,000,000 |
| Linebackers | 9% | $2,700,000 |
| Defensive Backs | 9% | $2,700,000 |
| Defensive Line (Interior) | 8% | $2,400,000 |
| Running Backs | 6% | $1,800,000 |
| Tight Ends | 5% | $1,500,000 |
| Specialists | 4% | $1,200,000 |
| Practice/Reserve | 3% | $1,000,000 |
| TOTAL | 100% | $31,000,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| QB1 | Starter | $3,000,000 |
| QB2 | Backup | $900,000 |
| QB3 | Depth | $400,000 |
| QB4 | Depth | $200,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| WR1 | Starter | $900,000 |
| WR2 | Starter | $750,000 |
| WR3 | Starter | $600,000 |
| WR4 | Backup | $300,000 |
| WR5 | Backup | $250,000 |
| WR6 | Backup | $200,000 |
| WR7 | Depth | $150,000 |
| WR8 | Depth | $150,000 |
| WR9 | Depth | $150,000 |
| WR10 | Depth | $150,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| EDGE1 | Starter | $900,000 |
| EDGE2 | Starter | $700,000 |
| EDGE3 | Backup | $450,000 |
| EDGE4 | Backup | $350,000 |
| EDGE5 | Depth | $300,000 |
| EDGE6 | Depth | $300,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| LT | Starter | $600,000 |
| LG | Starter | $450,000 |
| C | Starter | $450,000 |
| RG | Starter | $400,000 |
| RT | Starter | $400,000 |
| OL6 | Backup | $200,000 |
| OL7 | Backup | $150,000 |
| OL8 | Backup | $150,000 |
| OL9 | Depth | $100,000 |
| OL10 | Depth | $100,000 |
| OL11 | Depth | $100,000 |
| OL12 | Depth | $100,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| LB1 | Starter | $600,000 |
| LB2 | Starter | $500,000 |
| LB3 | Starter | $400,000 |
| LB4 | Backup | $300,000 |
| LB5 | Backup | $250,000 |
| LB6 | Depth | $200,000 |
| LB7 | Depth | $200,000 |
| LB8 | Depth | $150,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| CB1 | Starter | $500,000 |
| CB2 | Starter | $450,000 |
| Nickel | Starter | $350,000 |
| FS | Starter | $300,000 |
| SS | Starter | $300,000 |
| DB6 | Backup | $200,000 |
| DB7 | Backup | $150,000 |
| DB8 | Backup | $150,000 |
| DB9 | Depth | $100,000 |
| DB10 | Depth | $100,000 |
| DB11 | Depth | $100,000 |
| DB12 | Depth | $100,000 |
Defensive Line (Interior) — 6 Players — $2.4M
| Player | Role | Salary |
| DL1 | Starter | $600,000 |
| DL2 | Starter | $500,000 |
| DL3 | Starter | $400,000 |
| DL4 | Backup | $300,000 |
| DL5 | Depth | $300,000 |
| DL6 | Depth | $300,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| RB1 | Starter | $600,000 |
| RB2 | Backup | $350,000 |
| RB3 | Backup | $300,000 |
| RB4 | Depth | $200,000 |
| RB5 | Depth | $200,000 |
| RB6 | Depth | $150,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| TE1 | Starter | $600,000 |
| TE2 | Backup | $350,000 |
| TE3 | Backup | $300,000 |
| TE4 | Depth | $250,000 |
| Player | Role | Salary |
| K | Starter | $500,000 |
| P | Starter | $450,000 |
| LS | Starter | $250,000 |
- Total Players: 75 Active Roster/10 Practice Squad
- Total Cap: $31,000,000
- Reserve Cap: 750k reserved for player if elevated from Practice Squad, 250k for Practice Squad Players (25k each)
- Minimum Salary: $100,000
