NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement

Article 45
Injury Protection

Section 3
Benefit

(a)

Except as otherwise required by operation of Section 1 above, a player qualifying under Section 2 above will receive an amount equal to 100% of his Paragraph 5 Salary for the season following the season of injury. Notwithstanding the immediately preceding sentence, under no circumstances shall the above-described amount (i.e., 100% of the player’s Paragraph 5 Salary) exceed the following maximum payments: $2,000,000, in the 2021-22 League Year; $2,050,000, in the 2023-24 League Years; $2,100,000, in the 2025-26 League Years; $2,180,000, in the 2027-28 League Years; and $2,260,000, in the 2029-2030 League Years.

(b)

In the event that a player has guaranteed Paragraph 5 Salary in the season after his season of injury and/or the following season, that guaranteed compensation in those two seasons shall offset the amount of the Injury Protection Benefit and Extended Injury Protection Benefit on a dollar for dollar basis. No player may decline payment of any portion of the guaranteed salary provided for in the player’s contract to which the player would otherwise be entitled for the purpose of asserting a claim for Injury Protection and/or Extended Injury Protection.

(c)

A player will receive no amount of any contract covering the season subsequent to the season following the season of injury, except if he has individually negotiated more injury protection or a larger guaranteed salary in that contract for the affected year in question or if he qualifies for the Extended Injury Protection benefit described below. The benefit will be paid to the player in equal weekly installments commencing no later than the date of the first regular season game, which benefit payments will cease if the player signs a contract for that season with another Club. A player will not be entitled to the Injury Protection Benefit more than once during his playing career in the NFL.