Players on the Colorado Mammoth’ active roster have salaries based on experience and performance.
The franchise usually gives one-year contracts that rise from year to year. Top players can negotiate a longer and more lucrative contract.
The NLL has a salary cap. However, the Colorado Mammoth can provide top-ups from a discretionary bonus pool. Read on for the details.
How We Calculate Salaries
NLL franchises don’t publish player salaries. However, some details across the league leaks out during annual negotiations between the NLL and the players association.
Our calculations are based on salary levels reported in 2018. We’ve adjusted them upwards to represent further gains by the player association.
We also know that each club can use a $30K bonus pool to top up player salaries above the agreed ceiling.
Colorado Mammoth doesn’t have to pay out the full $30K. But they must distribute at least $16K each season.
How Much Do Players Earn At Colorado Mammoth?
Rookies at Colorado Mammoth receive a base contract of US$13K. Their second year brings an increased contract of $15-$21K.
The minimum for veterans is $19K. The maximum base contract for the most valued veterans is $37K.
The average salary across the Colorado Mammoth playing roster is $25K.
Apart from the average, the above numbers are rounded to the nearest one thousand dollars. The raw numbers are in the table below.
The figures we’ve listed may seem low for hard-working athletes. But bear in mind that the NLL season is about six months long.
I’ve included the pro-rata monthly equivalent in the table below.
| Status | Annual (US$) | Monthly (US$) |
| Rookies | 12,408 | 2,068 |
| Second-year minimum | 14,824 | 2,471 |
| Second-year maximum | 20,215 | 3,369 |
| Veteran minimum | 18,433 | 3,072 |
| Veteran maximum | 36,626 | 6,104 |
Franchise Tag Exception
There is one exception where a player’s base contract can be above the maximum we specified above.
Every club can offer what’s known as a franchise tag to one player per season.
This is a one-year contract of $46K. It ties the player from switching to another team.
Players who are over 33 can reject the Tag. That used to be 34 years. But the players association recently negotiated it down a year.
To my knowledge, Colorado Mammoth hasn’t applied the Tag to any player in the current season.
The last time they tied a player down was Zack Greer in 2019. But he’s gone from the club now.
Who Are The Top Earners At Colorado Mammoth?
What’s the best position for a player to be in when negotiating a new one-year contract?
When you’ve just captained your team to win the championship!
Robert Hope had an immense season in defence and was a leader on and off the field in the 2021/22 season. Unsurprisingly, he was reappointed as captain for 2022/23.
Robert Hope was already at the top of the salary tier of about $36.6K.
Not all captains earn the same
But we expect Colorado Mammoth had to dip generously into the bonus pool for a top-up when Hope negotiated his one year deal in August 2022.
John Lintz is also a veteran and had a career-best five assists in in 2021/22. He also negotiated a new one year deal before the start of the current season.
The third similarity to Hope is that Lintz was appointed Alternate Captain.
We expect John’s base contract to be at the maximum, but his piece of the bonus pool to be lower than Robert Hope. That’s because John Lintz is five years older than Hope.
Clubs are less likely to move mountains for a player negotiating what is possibly his last contract.
Any forwards at the top?
Colorado Mammoth built their championship run on an outstanding defense. But they wouldn’t have taken the title without stellar play at the other end.
Zed Williams was a major contributor. He agreed a three-year deal on the last day of August 2022. We expect him to be at the $36K top level.
Which Young Players Are Rising In Earnings?
Colorado Mammoth picked Warren Jeffrey in the first round of the 2019 draft. Unfortunately, that season was curtailed for everybody due to the pandemic.
His rookie contract would have been about $10K back then. His second year contract was about $13K.
In these early years, the youngsters are usually getting one-year contracts.
Fast forward to now when Jeffrey is in the fourth season of his professional career. We expect that he pushed past the maximum two-year tier of about $20K.
His salary is likely around $25K.
Which Colorado Mammoth Players Are Paid The Least?
The club keeps several players on the practice squad.
As these players are not on the active roster, they don’t even get the minimum contract.
The practice squad players earn about one to two thousand dollars per season.
Playing In The PLL
Some players finish their season in the NLL and then play outdoors in the Premier Lacrosse League.
Dillon Ward extends his lacrosse income by playing for Waterdogs in the PLL.
If you’re interested in how much additional income that brings, check out our review of player salaries at Waterdogs Lacrosse Club.
Zed Williams also switches between the two leagues. We take a detailed look in our review of player salaries at Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club.
Alternate Employment
NLL players are employed by their franchise for about six months of the year.
They also don’t train full-time during the season. The standard schedule is to travel for training on Thursday evening or Friday morning.
That allows Mammoth players to work alongside their playing career.
Some players work within the lacrosse industry. Connor Robinson worked as a part-time goalie coach at the Buffalo Lacrosse Academy.
Other players get started on a career unrelated to their sport. For example, Joey Cupido is in real estate sales. He works for a company based in Hamilton, Ontario.
How Do Colorado Mammoth Afford Player Wages?
You may be wondering if gate receipts are enough to cover player wages now and in the future.
Part of the challenge for NLL teams is that the new Premier Lacrosse League has raised the bar on payment and benefits. You can find out more in our review of salaries in the PLL.
Fans understandably get worried about whether the franchise owners can withstand financial pressures in uncertain times.
Check out our review of the owners of the Colorado Mammoth. The holding company is a subsidiary of Comcast, which shouldn’t be short of funds.
If you want to see a detailed list of the players they support, we have the current Mammoth player roster here.
