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How exactly did Tom Boyd earn over $1 million in 2019 if he walked away from his contact?
Million-dollar men: Nine AFL players topped $1 million mark last year
The number of million-dollar players in the AFL is back up to nine with two players earning in excess of $1.2 million in 2019.
The group of million-dollar earners is headlined by Richmond star Dustin Martin, Docker Nat Fyfe and Swan superstar Lance Franklin. Sources said Geelong skipper Joel Selwood and the Bulldogs' emerging champion Marcus Bontempelli were also paid more than a million dollars in 2019, while Selwood's teammate Patrick Dangerfield is right on that mark and believed likely to be a sixth player.
West Coast's Jeremy McGovern is also potentially in that bracket, given that he averages more than $1 million a season in his five-year contract, with a query on whether he was slightly below for 2019 only.
Glamour forward Franklin earned $1.3 million in 2019, which will rise to $1.4 million this year and almost $1.5 million in 2021, the second-last year of his ground-breaking, nine-year contract with the Swans.
Dangerfield crossed to the Cats from Adelaide on a deal worth close to $5 million over six years but he had rises in the total player payments built into his contract, which boosted his pay over the course of the deal.
Official figures released by the league show that nine players eclipsed the magical seven-figure mark last season. The group had contracted to six in 2018, from nine in 2017. The number of million-dollar earners fluctuates because highly paid players are sometimes on front-ended or back-ended contracts.
Collingwood's skipper Scott Pendlebury, like Selwood, had been paid on a fixed percentage of the club's salary cap for some years. Sources suggest that Pendlebury, who just signed an extension and took a significant cut, was paid marginally below $1 million in 2019, but will play for far less this year and in 2021.
One player earned more than a million dollars without playing an AFL game. The Age has confirmed that this player was not Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell, with Tom Boyd - who did not play after retiring in the course of 2019 - mooted as the other player potentially to make that amount, including any pay-out, despite not playing. Boyd turned his back on the final two years of his contract.
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps, one of the game's most consistent superstars, was not paid above $1 million in 2019. Jeremy Cameron of the Giants averages slightly over a million and is due a huge deal this year, but sources suggested that he was under the $1 million mark in 2019, as the Giants moved money around to fit under their always-bursting salary cap.
Some of the nine players paid over a million would have contracts that are front- or back-ended, meaning that they are not necessarily averaging that seven-figure amount over the course of their contracts.
The trend in the AFL has been for very long-term contracts, such as the seven-year deals signed by Magpie ruck Brodie Grundy, Richmond's Tom Lynch and Dylan Shiel (Essendon).
Last year was the fifth consecutive season that an AFL player earned at least a $1 million.
Million-dollar men: Nine AFL players topped $1 million mark last year
The number of million-dollar players in the AFL is back up to nine with two players earning in excess of $1.2 million in 2019.
The group of million-dollar earners is headlined by Richmond star Dustin Martin, Docker Nat Fyfe and Swan superstar Lance Franklin. Sources said Geelong skipper Joel Selwood and the Bulldogs' emerging champion Marcus Bontempelli were also paid more than a million dollars in 2019, while Selwood's teammate Patrick Dangerfield is right on that mark and believed likely to be a sixth player.
West Coast's Jeremy McGovern is also potentially in that bracket, given that he averages more than $1 million a season in his five-year contract, with a query on whether he was slightly below for 2019 only.
Glamour forward Franklin earned $1.3 million in 2019, which will rise to $1.4 million this year and almost $1.5 million in 2021, the second-last year of his ground-breaking, nine-year contract with the Swans.
Dangerfield crossed to the Cats from Adelaide on a deal worth close to $5 million over six years but he had rises in the total player payments built into his contract, which boosted his pay over the course of the deal.
Official figures released by the league show that nine players eclipsed the magical seven-figure mark last season. The group had contracted to six in 2018, from nine in 2017. The number of million-dollar earners fluctuates because highly paid players are sometimes on front-ended or back-ended contracts.
Collingwood's skipper Scott Pendlebury, like Selwood, had been paid on a fixed percentage of the club's salary cap for some years. Sources suggest that Pendlebury, who just signed an extension and took a significant cut, was paid marginally below $1 million in 2019, but will play for far less this year and in 2021.
One player earned more than a million dollars without playing an AFL game. The Age has confirmed that this player was not Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell, with Tom Boyd - who did not play after retiring in the course of 2019 - mooted as the other player potentially to make that amount, including any pay-out, despite not playing. Boyd turned his back on the final two years of his contract.
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps, one of the game's most consistent superstars, was not paid above $1 million in 2019. Jeremy Cameron of the Giants averages slightly over a million and is due a huge deal this year, but sources suggested that he was under the $1 million mark in 2019, as the Giants moved money around to fit under their always-bursting salary cap.
Some of the nine players paid over a million would have contracts that are front- or back-ended, meaning that they are not necessarily averaging that seven-figure amount over the course of their contracts.
The trend in the AFL has been for very long-term contracts, such as the seven-year deals signed by Magpie ruck Brodie Grundy, Richmond's Tom Lynch and Dylan Shiel (Essendon).
Last year was the fifth consecutive season that an AFL player earned at least a $1 million.
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