AFL Rich 100 list 2021: Who is footy’s highest paid player?

It’s been a rough initiation for high-priced Carlton recruit Zac Williams but did it really cost $900,000 per season to pry him out of GWS?

As Patrick Cripps sacrificed $200,000 a year for the love of his football club, the headlines screamed about a cash grab.

While the Herald Sun reported Cripps had demanded he leave money on the table to help the club in its build for a premiership, one TV reporter stated as fact he had secured $1 million a season over six years.

It was a million-dollar mistake given Cripps’ salary will be closer to $750,000 per season over that tenure.

The Herald Sun’s Rich List is assembled following hundreds of calls to leading industry figures to provide a full picture of the top-100 paid players in the game.

It might not be popular with players given they remain sensitive about their salaries, and yet with only a handful of players paid over $1 million per season, the AFL’s stars are far from overpaid.

SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT THE RICH 100 LIST

In what is a billion-dollar industry given combined revenue, for the AFL’s elite stars to earn only $1 million seems frankly obscene.

This year those stars have again taken a pay cut to allow the code to survive.

Those varying pay cuts – which will be repaid in part over coming years – and the fact some deals are front and back-ended means total clarity on those wages is still an inexact science.

The Rich List figures are presented in $50,000 bands to reflect the fact many salaries have performance bonuses they may or may not meet, with salaries often spiking or falling over a single season of a longer contract to help clubs balance the books.

For instance one of footy’s biggest stars has accepted the lion’s share of his club’s Covid cut – which he will regain in later years – so his teammates can secure their full salaries this year.

Some AFL stars are missing from this list, with Joel Selwood sacrificing to keep the Cats list together and paid around $550,000.

Richmond’s Tom Lynch has back-ended his seven-year salary so his riches will come in the final four years of his deal.

Critics who would contest the nature of this exercise would concede every single contract brokered by clubs comes with wild and immediate speculation about its value.

And AFL House releases regular updates about the yearly pay breakdown of players and the updated free agency lists to its own non-independent media arm.

The Herald Sun Rich List attempts to put those salaries into perspective and provide some accuracy despite the telephone book numbers thrown around.

Originally published as AFL Rich 100 list 2021: Who is footy’s highest paid player?