Which NFL Players Will Owe The Most Jock Tax In 2026

Football Money

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The 2026 NFL play is connected the horizon, and fans could not beryllium much excited to spot really their squad performs connected the gridiron. However, location is simply a 2nd scoreboard that has already travel into play astatine the commencement of training campy – the taxation bill. What fans whitethorn not recognize is that the NFL Draft, free agency, and moreover the anterior year’s outcomes formulaically find a player’s taxation liabilities since their authorities and section income taxation liabilities are based connected wherever players incur their work days.

The “jock tax” is the mundane word for really states use nonresident income taxation rules to athletes who execute crossed galore jurisdictions. While the mostly of their days are spent moving successful the jurisdiction wherever their squad is located, players must use a analyzable look to find what they beryllium successful taxes successful different jurisdictions wherever they besides gain taxable income.

As teams proceed to big training campy successful different locations, and arsenic the NFL continues to schedule games complete seas, this year’s jock taxation has galore intricacies that impact a player’s after-tax net income.

What Is The Jock Tax?

For astir American taxpayers, they unrecorded in, activity in, and salary taxes successful a azygous authorities pinch small respect for really different states levy taxes. However, NFL players play games successful galore different states and, owed to their ample salaries, must adhere to the taxation laws successful these different states.

To compute this, players must root a stock of their net and prize income to the authorities based connected the clip that was worked there. This conception creates the duty-day formula. A subordinate should full each work time – practice, travel, and games – crossed the twelvemonth and past use the fraction spent successful each authorities to their compensation. Whatever stock belongs to a authorities becomes taxable income successful that state.

As players incur astir of their work days successful their team’s location state, players connected teams that play successful debased aliases no-income taxation complaint states thin to person the lowest jock tax. However, players do not needfully get to prime this team. The NFL draught determines astir players’ first teams, and if that squad is located successful a authorities for illustration Nevada, which was the lawsuit for the 2026 NFL Draft, past players tin efficaciously debar important authorities income taxation liabilities, comparative to being drafted by a squad successful New York, New Jersey, aliases California.

Furthermore, the NFL applies a look to the pursuing year’s schedule that is comprised of games against the different team’s successful their division, a rotation of teams successful the aforesaid convention successful a different division, teams successful the different conference, and teams that vanished successful a akin spot successful the standings. This schedule creates the anticipation to estimate players’ jock taxes for the 2026 NFL season.

Estimating The 2026 NFL Jock Tax

The existent jock taxation a subordinate must salary is based connected galore player-specific factors that cannot beryllium obtained. However, the magnitude tin beryllium reasonably estimated for each 32 teams utilizing galore simplifying assumptions:

• 20 work days astatine each team's training campy site.
• 4 work days for believe successful the team's location authorities for each week from the preseason and regular season.
• 2 work days astatine the location of each roadworthy game.
• 40 level work days successful the location state, covering different business and organization obligations.
• A typical norm for the 9 2026 International Series games: since the work time look does not see world activity, work days related to internation games are credited backmost to their ain location authorities alternatively than an opponent's.

The publically disposable training campy sites, NFL schedule, and the simplifying assumptions supra create an estimate of the 2026 jock taxation by squad the subordinate plays on:

As shown above, nary players will look a zero percent jock tax. This is because of the jock taxation formula, which assigns work days to taxable jurisdictions moreover for players who play for teams successful no-income-tax-rate states for illustration Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Nevada. Similarly, players who play for team’s located successful California will get reprieve from the jock taxation look for their games played extracurricular of the state.

However, the 2026 jock taxation continues to supply taxation benefits for players connected teams for illustration the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, and Houston Texans who, not only play, practice, and train successful states that do not levy an income tax, but they besides person much roadworthy games against each different and do not beryllium authorities income taxes connected those work days either.

On the flip side, players connected teams successful California, New York, and New Jersey incur the mostly of their work days successful high-income-tax complaint states, and their after-tax income is importantly lower.

To thief illustrate, see Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills) and Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars). Both players are the starting backmost for their squad and they some person an estimated 2026 statement worth of $55 million, according to Over The Cap. In 2026, Allen will person an estimated jock taxation of astir $5.65 cardinal while Lawrence will person an estimated jock taxation of astir $0.22 million. Thus, owed to the jock tax, Lawrence takes location complete $5 cardinal much successful after-tax compensation.

The Hidden Jock Tax Hit Of Training Camp

One wildcard adaptable for players is wherever each squad hosts training camp. While immoderate usage their ain stadium aliases a adjacent location, others, for illustration the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Washington Commanders spell to different states for their training camp. As campy yields an estimated 20 work days (about 12% of a player’s year), wherever training campy occurs tin person a important effect connected their paycheck.

The Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback, Dak Prescott, exemplifies this issue. Cowboys players incur the mostly of their work days successful Texas, which does not levy an income tax. However, the training campy takes spot successful California, which levies a 13.3% authorities income taxation rate. Prescott’s 2026 statement has him earning $60 million, of which $1.27 cardinal is paid arsenic a jock tax.

If the Cowboys were to clasp their training campy successful Texas, the Cowboys players’ jock taxation complaint would autumn to 0.55%. The resulting yearly jock taxation owed by Prescott would beryllium $0.33 million, a savings of $940,000. Put differently, Prescott must salary almost a cardinal dollars much successful taxes because the Cowboys clasp their training campy successful California versus Texas.

The Jock Tax Bottom Line

The jock taxation continues to beryllium a complexity that NFL players must look each year. For instance, conscionable past year, Seattle Seahawks backmost Sam Darnold faced nett rate outflows aft winning the Super Bowl successful California because the jock taxation near him pinch much taxation liability than he was paid for the game. The issues astir the jock taxation persist crossed each master leagues whether it beryllium the NBA aliases the PGA Tour.

For 2026, California’s teams support paying the league's steepest jock taxation bill, no-tax-state teams support their structural edge, and a grounds slate of world games softly redirects millions successful taxation liability toward immoderate teams' location states and distant from others', sloppy of who wins connected the field.