Players on the Las Vegas Desert Dogs’ 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 Las Vegas franchise 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 leak 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 since then.
We also know that each club can use a $30K bonus pool to top up player salaries above the agreed ceiling.
The Desert Dogs don’t have to pay out the full $30K. But they must distribute at least $16K each season.
How Much Do Players Earn At Las Vegas Desert Dogs?
Rookies at Las Vegas Desert Dogs receive a base contract of about 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 Desert Dogs’ 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.
It ties the player from switching to another team. Players who are over 33 can reject the Tag.
To my knowledge, the Desert Dogs haven’t applied the tag to a player this season.
However, they briefly had a player on the books who ended up with a tag elsewhere. Frankie Scigliano was their eleventh selection in the 2022 Expansion Draft.
The Dogs traded the veteran goaltender back to the San Diego Seals who promptly made Scigliano their franchise player.
Here is a summary of all the salary tiers:
Which Desert Dogs Are The Top Earners?
There are plenty of good players in the Dog’s lineup. But they will rely on a key few stars in their inaugural season.
Perhaps the most stellar is Rob Heller!
Heller arrived in Las Vegas with ten seasons under his belt at Toronto Rock where he was one of their top scorers.
He broke 90 points in three of those seasons. His career-best was 113 points in 2016.
The Dogs wanted their man so much that they traded their first-round draft picks for both 2024 and 2025.
They undoubtedly gave Heller the maximum base contract of just under $37K. We expect that the franchise also topped that up from the bonus pool.
Of course, defense is also the key to a successful new team. The Desert Dogs acquired several veteran defenders.
We expect John Wagner and James Barclay to be on the maximum veteran contract with a top-up bonus.
Which Young Desert Dogs Players Are Rising In Earnings?
The young goalie Landon Kells had his rookie year with Calgary in the 2021/22 season.
That first contract was under $13K.
When players are in their second year, the contract can fall within a range of about $15K to $20K.
We expect the Kells to be on the higher end of that tier.
Which Las Vegas Desert Dogs Players Are Paid The Least?
Rookies aren’t the lowest-paid players at the club.
The practice squad players earn about one to two thousand dollars per season.
Desert Dogs In The PLL
Some players finish their season in the NLL and then play outdoors in the Premier Lacrosse League.
James Barclay extended his income in the summer by playing in the PLL for the Chrome Lacrosse Club.
Connor Kirst has played with the Whipsnakes, while Charlie Bertrand has played for the Redwoods Lacrosse Club.
If you’re interested in how much additional income that brings, check out these overviews of PLL earnings:
Other Employment Inside And Outside The Lacrosse World
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 Desert Dogs players to work alongside their playing career.
Some players work within the lacrosse industry.
Marshal King works as an instructor at a youth lacrosse camp in Victoria, BC.
Other players get started on a career unrelated to their sport.
Rob Hellyer is a real estate agent in the Barrie area.
James Barclay is an account executive with a cloud software company based in Toronto.
How Do Las Vegas Desert Dogs Afford Player Wages?
We’ve only covered a few of the players, but there are plenty more on the books.
You may be wondering if gate receipts are enough to cover player wages now and in the future.
You can see the current Las Vegas Desert Dogs roster here.
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 Las Vegas Desert Dogs.
