Players on the Philadelphia Wings’ 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 but the Wings can provide top-ups from a discretionary bonus pool. Read on for the details.
This article was edited when the Philadelphia Wings roster was completed.
How We Calculate Salaries
NLL franchises don’t publish player salaries. However, some details across the league were released during the 2018/19 negotiations between the NLL and the players association.
The salary ranges (based on experience) were reported in 2018. Since then, the new agreement resulted in a 25% increase phased over four to five years.
Our calculations have applied this as a 4-5% increase per year to date.
We also know that clubs have a $30K bonus pool that can take individual players over the maximum salary range.
The Wings don’t have to pay out the full amount but they must distribute at least $16K each season.
How Much Do Players Earn At Philadelphia Wings?
Rookies at Philadelphia Wings receive a base contract of US$13K. They make from $15K to $21K in their second year.
A veteran player earns a minimum of $19K. This rises every year to a maximum salary of $37K.
The average salary across the Wings’ playing roster is $25K.
Apart from the average, the above numbers are rounded to the nearest one thousand dollars. We have the raw numbers later.
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 $46K. It ties the player from switching to another team. Players who are over 34 can reject the tag.
Monthly wages
The figures we’ve listed may seem low for hard-working athletes. But bear in mind that the NLL season is about six months long.
I’ve put the pro-rata monthly equivalent in the table below. These numbers aren’t rounded.
| Status | Annual (US$) | 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 |
Who are the top earners?
We expect that the highly experienced Kevin Crowley was on the maximum veteran contract. But the star forward departed for the Seals this season.
That freed up some funds to be used elsewhere. Specifically, I expect that Joe Restarits was signed at the top of the veteran range when he agreed a three-year deal in the summer of 2022.
But losing Crowley also increases the value of Matt Rambo as a forward. Rambo is eight years younger than Crowley and five years younger than Restarits.
But he’s been around long enough to be at the top of the contract ladder.
Trevor Baptiste is younger again and may not be on the top contract. But Baptiste has star quality. Sponsors love him as we’ll see later! Teams need that kind of buzz.
The Wings may supplement his base contract with a top-up from the bonus pool.
Captain’s bonus
The Philadephia Wings offered the franchise tag to not one but two players. First, it was rejected by Kiel Matisz. Then Ian Llord also turned it down.
If either had taken it, that player would have had the highest base contract on the team.
But just because they rejected the tag, that doesn’t mean they aren’t top earners. Matisz was awarded the captaincy and Ian Llord was made Alternate Captain.
We expect that the additional captaincy duties are rewarded through a significant top-up from the bonus pool. This will take them well above the veteran maximum tier of about $37K.
Which Wings players are paid the least?
The Wings have several players on the practice squad. These are the lowest-paid players.
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.
Trevor Baptiste extends his lacrosse income by playing for Atlas in the PLL.
If you’re interested in how much additional income that brings, check out our review of how much players earn at Atlas Lacrosse Club.
Matt Rambo also switches between the two leagues. We take a detailed look in our review of player earnings at Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club.
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 Wings players to work outside of their playing career. Let’s look at a few to get a flavor of what they do.
Steph Charbonneau is a manager at a warehousing and distribution company in Quebec (Precise Warehousing).
But Alex Crepinsek has one of the sweetest jobs of all. He’s a sales rep with E&J Gallo, the wine producer. I do like their wines!
How Do Philadelphia Wings 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 Philadelphia Wings. The holding company is a subsidiary of Comcast, which shouldn’t be short of funds.
