McIlroy Wins THE PLAYERS Championship, $4.5 million

Scott AllenMarch 17, 2025

Rory McIlroy wins THE PLAYERS Championship. McIlroy earns $4.5 million million bringing his 2025 on-course earnings to $8.7 million and his career earnings to $181.2 million. 

THE PLAYERS Championship Top 10 Payouts

pga rory mcilroy

Niemann Wins LIV Golf Singapore, $4 million

Scott AllenMarch 17, 2025

Joaquin Niemann wins the fourth LIV Golf event of 2024 at Singapore and earns $4 million. 

Singapore Top 10

liv golf joaquin niemann

Vikings Acquire RB Mason

Michael GinnittiMarch 16, 2025

The Minnesota Vikings kept their foot on the gas pedal this week, agreeing to acquire RB Jordan Mason from the San Francisco 49ers. Minnesota will send back a 5th Round pick (#160) in the upcoming draft, and a 6th Round pick in 2026, while the Vikings will bring back pick #187 (a 6th-Rounder) as well.

Mason was scheduled to earn a $5.346M 2nd-Round restricted free agent tender in 2025, but the Vikings have announced a 2 year, $12M contract extension for the 25-year-old that includes $7M fully guaranteed. He joins veteran Aaron Jones (who signed a 2 year, $20M extension of his own) as a strong 1-2 punch in Minnesota going forward.

San Francisco on the other hand continues their mini-purge this offseason, freeing up all $5.3M of Mason's salary in the move. The Niners are still in good hands at the running back position of course, as Christian McCaffrey is signed through the 2027 season (mostly guaranteed through 2025).

Jordan Mason's contract extension checks in at 2 years, $10.5M and includes $7.23M fully guaranteed. He'll earn $5.5M in 2025 (just north of his previous tender), and can add $1.5M to the deal based on rushing yards.

nfl minnesota vikings san francisco 49ers jordan mason

Mak Whitman becomes youngest player to debut in the NWSL

Taylor VincentMarch 16, 2025

The 93rd minute substitution for Mak Whitman in Gotham's season opener Saturday night in Seattle made her the youngest ever player to debut in the NWSL at 14 years, 8 months old. The title was previously held by San Diego's Melanie Barcenas.

Whitman signed her contract with Gotham for the 2025+ season in July 2024 when she was still technically 13. She played with Gotham as a national team replacement player during the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup which was held overlapping with the 2024 Paris Olympics, at which point she was 14 years, 1 day old. 

nwsl nj/ny gotham fc mckenna whitham

Croix Bethune Returns from SEI

Taylor VincentMarch 14, 2025

The 2024 NWSL Midfielder of the Year and 2024 NWSL Rookie of the Year Croix Bethune returned to the active roster today ahead of the Washington Spirit's season opener against the Houston Dash tonight 192 days after joining the 2024 Season-Ending Injury list with a torn meniscus. 

Bethune was selected third overall in the 2024 Collegiate Draft by the Washington Spirit, and her impact on the pitch for the Spirit was felt immediately. She earned three straight Rookie of the Month awards for her performances on the pitch, which included assisting three goals in the May matchup against Chicago and then later in the month breaking the rookie assist record. After coming back from the Olympic break (with a Gold Medal), Bethune earned her tenth assist, tying the league record for assists in a season set by Tobin Heath back in 2016—she also had scored five goals for the Spirit by this point. In an unfortunate turn, just a few days later she tore her meniscus and joined the league’s Season Ending Injury list. 

nwsl washington spirit croix bethune

Breaking Down Josh Allen's $330M Contract

Michael GinnittiMarch 14, 2025

The details of Josh Allen’s 6 year, $330M renegotiated contract with the Buffalo Bills have been revealed and, as expected, they’re relatively massive.

The Overall Structure

Allen secures a $56.745M signing bonus (9th highest all-time), plus 3 consecutive option bonuses. This structure is utilized to keep cap figures lower early on in the contract - though as we’ll detail soon, not as low as they could have been in this particular case.

There are large March roster bonuses built into the final two years of the season, a good indicator that the player/agent will look to extend out of this contract again prior to the 2030 season (or pressure on the Bills to get out of the deal early if things are going in that direction).

The deal includes VERY aggressive cash flow, and a bit more room to maneuver than the majority of blockbuster deals we’ve seen in the past.

The Cash Flow

Historic. Allen secured $220M over the next 4 seasons, $1M more than Dak Prescott locked down with Dallas last summer, and $90M more than Allen was previously scheduled to earn on his prior contract.

He’ll see $58M in 2025, $113MM through year 2 (2nd all-time to Prescott), and $166M through year 3 (2nd all-time to Prescott).

6-Year Cash Flow
2025: $58M
2026: $55M
2027: $53M
2028: $54M
2029: $52.5M
2030: $57.5M

For a little clarity, yes, Josh Allen’s $55M APY ties him for 2nd with Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, & Trevor Lawrence. But these players were extending out of a rookie contract to secure that number - which means there were previous years and cash built into that new deal. Burrow’s 4-year cash APY is $45.4M. For Love it’s $46.5M, and for Lawrence it’s only $38.8M.

Allen’s $220M through 2028 means he’ll earn a true $55M per year over that span.

The Guarantee Structure

$147M of the $330M total is guaranteed at signing, comprised of:
Signing Bonus: $56.745M
2025 Salary: $1.255M
2026 Salary/Bonus: $54.5M
2026 Salary: $34.5M

It’s the second most guaranteed signing in NFL history, behind only Deshaun Watson’s $230M. However, if we compare this number to the total value of the contract, Allen slips down the list quite a bit:

% of Contract Guaranteed at Signing

Rank Quarterback & Guaranteed
1 Deshaun Watson 100.00%
2 Dak Prescott 53.75%
3 Jared Goff 53.59%
4 Joe Burrow 53.28%
5 Lamar Jackson 51.92%
6 Trevor Lawrence 51.64%
7 Justin Herbert 50.95%
8 Jordan Love 45.82%
9 Kyler Murray 44.82%
10 Josh Allen 44.55%

In total, $250M of this $330M contract is guaranteed, as $18M of 2027 salary locks in next March, $53.5M of 2028 salary locks in March of 2027, $14M of 2029 salary locks in March of 2028, and a final $17.5M becomes fully guaranteed in March of 2029. The $250M total guarantee is the most in NFL history, soaring past Dak Prescott’s $231M previous high mark.

The Salary Cap Flow

Here’s where things get a little tricky. Generally speaking, a huge contract with 4 prorated bonuses offers the team a substantial amount of salary cap relief early on. The Bills chose not to go this route - at least initially. What does that mean?

Out of the gate, some of these initial cap figures look daunting, if not downright terrifying. However, Allen’s $41.3M cap hit this year represents less than 15% of the league salary cap. That balloons to over 20% next year based on projections, but then decreases nicely through 2028. Even small salary conversion adjustments over the next 3 offseasons will keep Allen’s cap hit in the teens in terms of percentages, which should allow Buffalo the opportunity to continue to build and grow appropriately.

2025 - $41,335,281
Allen receives a $56.745M signing bonus that spreads out over 5 years, and a veteran minimum $1.255M base salary. Everything about this year is as minimized as possible for salary cap purposes. Allen’s cap hit for the upcoming season stands at $41.3M, which represents $3.9M of savings from his previous contract.

2026- $61,388,000
There’s a $38M option bonus available that when exercised will spread out over 5 years for cap purposes, but Allen is also due a $16.5M base salary in 2026. This is $15.2M more than the veteran minimum next season ($1.3M). If Buffalo processes a simple salary conversion next March, they can lower the cap hit down to $49.3M, saving over $12M of room.

Now you get the picture. After 2025, Josh Allen has base salaries that are significantly higher than the minimum for that particular season, giving Buffalo room/option to maneuver a little bit as needed.

Base Salary vs. Minimum Salary

SEASON BASE SALARY MIN. SALARY POSSIBLE SAVINGS
2026 $16,500,000 $1,300,000 $12,160,000
2027 $14,000,000 $1,345,000 $10,124,000
2028 $18,500,000 $1,390,000 $13,688,000
2029 $17,000,000 $1,435,000 $12,452,000
2030 $27,000,000 $1,480,000 $20,416,000

The Practical Outcome

Assuming Allen and the Bills are still in a good place a few years down the road here, the logical time to start looking sideways at this contract will be the 2029 year, which currently boasts an $86.15M cap figure. That number is likely to increase with a cap conversion or two over the next few offseasons, likely making it an untenable cap hit to enter March with.

Will Buffalo be comfortable processing another conversion that late into the contract? Or will it make more sense to bail out on the final two years of this contract and freshen Allen’s pot a bit?

If Allen is still an MVP-caliber quarterback, the Bills will most likely be motivated to start over again prior to the 2029 season. If there’s even a sliver of doubt with their multi-year future, I think it stands to reason that this contract is allowed to play out through 2029 (5 years, $272.5M), after which an extension can be negotiated.

Here’s what we know for sure: Allen will be earning (at least) $220M over the course of the next 4 seasons (TBD incentives are available as well) - more than any NFL player has ever earned over a 4-year span. So while he may have left a few million per year (the math says around $7M) on the table, the structure of this contract certainly benefits him where it counts most - cash in hand.

NWSL Opening Day Rosters

Taylor VincentMarch 14, 2025

On Wednesday, NWSL clubs published their 22-26 player compliant start-of-season rosters. After a flurry of short-term signings, all 14 teams are at a correct roster size.

Composition varies from team to team except in the goalkeeper position where 12 of the 14 teams have the standard three signed. Across the rosters, the average number of active defenders and midfielders is a little over seven. For defenders Chicago is on the low side with five and Orlando and Washington top out at nine. Looking at midfielders, all teams are in the six to eight range with three clubs at 6, six clubs at 7, and five clubs at 8. Average number of forwards is close to 6.6, with a range from five (North Carolina) to nine (Chicago and Gotham). 

 

Looking at the current active rosters, not SEI’s or players signed and then loaned out…

Bay FC and North Carolina — both of whom made it to the 2024 Playoffs — had the smallest number of additions in the offseason with four. San Diego had the most new additions with 12. 

Injuries

Chicago defender Sam Staab, Gotham FC forward Midge Purce, Washington midfielder Croix Bethune, and Bay FC goalkeeper Melissa Lowder officially came off of their 2024 Season-Ending Injuries (SEIs) while Racing Louisville goalkeeper Olivia Sekany was added to the 2025 list. 

Chicago defender Natalia Kuikka, Washington’s Paige Metayer, and North Carolina’s Olivia Wingate and Dani Weatherholt were added to the D45 list ahead of the season opener. 

All-in-all, there are 29 players starting the 2025 season on either 2024 or 2025 SEI designations—comparatively, 2024 only had 19 2023/2024 SEI’s to start off the season. Four of the current players on SEI actually have had their designations since before the start of the 2024 season, and only five of the SEI designations are from 2025 (three alone coming from Portland).

All injuries/missed games for all NWSL teams will be tracked for the 2025 season and can be found here

nwsl opening day rosters

Tracking NFL Free Agency

Michael GinnittiMarch 10, 2025

Follow along with Spotrac's comprehensive coverage of all the trades, releases, signings, & more.

2025 Offseason Tracker
A summarized view of free agency, extensions, trades, etc...

Free Agent Tracker
Tracking all signings & available players throughout the offseason

Contract Extensions
Breakdown details for internal contract extensions this spring.

Trade Tracker
Full details regarding each trade

Transaction Wire 
The full list of transactions, including salary conversions, releases, & more

Team Salary Caps
An up-to-date look at salary cap allocations & estimated cap space


Follow along @spotrac on X, Threads, & BlueSky

Vilips Wins Puerto Rico Open, $720k

Scott AllenMarch 09, 2025

Karl Vilips wins Puerto Rico Open. Vilips earns $720k bringing his 2025 on-course earnings to $720k million and his career on-course earnings to $720k million. 

Puerto Rico Open Top 10 Payouts

pga karl vilips

Henley Wins Arnold Palmer Invitational, $4 million

Scott AllenMarch 09, 2025

Russell Henley wins Arnold Palmer Invitational. Henley earns $4 million million bringing his 2025 on-course earnings to $5.48 million and his career on-course earnings to $38.8 million. 

Arnold Palmer Invitational Top 10 Payouts

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