The average salary of an NFL player is $1.9 million annually.  The average NFL career lasts 3.3 years.  Thus, the average NFL player makes $6.2 million before leaving the NFL.  However, 78 percent of NFL players go broke within three years of leaving the NFL and 15.7 percent file for bankruptcy within 12 years of leaving.  This is according to paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research on 29 July 2016.