XFL News: Draftee Turns Down League Contract, Will Make More Money As Software Developer

Earlier this month, the XFL held its draft for each of the new teams to select their players and build their rosters. Numerous players are looking at this league as a second chance or a possible stepping stone to the NFL. One player, though, is not overly convinced that the XFL is going to be what is right for his professional football career, and his biggest issue with the league is the low pay they are offering.

Vince McMahon is hoping that the XFL’s second coming is going to be something that is successful and beneficial for all involved. He tried to have the league be an alternative to the NFL in the past and it didn’t work, but he’s hoping that things will be different this time around.

Guys like wide receiver Tommylee Lewis are looking at this as a way to continue playing football and possibly a way to get back to the NFL. Of course, there are major differences between the XFL and the NFL, though, and one of those is the salary that the players will receive.

It has recently been revealed that XFL players who are non-quarterbacks will receive $2,080 every two weeks they are under contract. If they are under contract for an entire season, they will receive a max base salary of $27,040, and one player doesn’t feel that is enough money to play in the league.

Corey Vereen played college football at the University of Tennessee and spent a short amount of time with the New England Patriots before being released. He was a member of the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football before the league folded in April.

He was selected in the third phase of the eighth round of the XFL Draft this month by the Los Angeles Wildcats. This week, Pro Football Talk revealed that Vereen will not be playing in the league due to the fact that he can make more money keeping his job as a software developer.

Logan Brown Sports, Vereen’s agent, issued a statement saying that the base salary and possible bonuses simply weren’t worth the effort.

“The salary schedule did not come close to matching what was talked about rampantly throughout the XFL combine workouts and was discussed online by many different sources. The base salary is $27,040 with per-game active bonuses of $1,685 and weekly win bonuses of $2,222.”

The $27,040 season salary is a lot less than the league’s original boasts of being in the range of $75,000. Once the AAF folded, though, they lowered that amount since their primary competition, outside of the NFL, no longer existed.

Corey Vereen is the only drafted player who has chosen not to move forward with the XFL, but the league has a lot of work ahead of it to even stay in operation.