Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joe Haden’s first NFL contract was worth around $50 million, but by the time his early spending spree was done, he was left with around $1 million in the bank.
Haden, 37, joined the “Get Yo Ass Up Show With Tony the Closer,” where he broke down how he spent his first few paychecks after the Cleveland Browns took him with the seventh overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
“Mom and dad, boom, $3 million after taxes, cash, what do y’all need mom and dad,” Haden said during an appearance earlier this month. “I gave mom and dad $3 million. Then, I bought my mom and dad a $1 million house.”
With Haden taking home $12.6 million as a rookie before taxes, he said he also bought cars for himself and his brothers and moved into a penthouse apartment.
“Looking at $12.6 million, there’s really $7 million [after taxes], now after my folks and everything, that’s, what you got in the bank? $1 million,” he said.
Haden added that if players have people in their lives who assume they could afford to give “a million here, a million here,” they would go broke quickly.
“I had to start really getting hip,” he said. “I could see how people that aren’t hip, you signed at two [years] for $10 million, think you got $10 million, your ass ain’t got that.”
“Only” having $1 million in the bank may not resonate with a football fan living paycheck to paycheck, but Haden is far from the first person to talk about how players’ lofty salaries don’t tell the whole story.
In 2025, Bryce Watts Hansen, the wife of former NFL player Chad Hansen, explained exactly how tough life in the NFL could be for those who aren’t at the top of the depth chart.
“He was on eight different NFL teams, which means eight different contracts are being signed and broken,” Bryce explained via TikTok. “When you’re on a team, it is good money — no matter [if you’re on a] practice squad or active roster, it is all good money.”
She continued, “[Chad] signed a contract. Then a couple months later you get nothing, especially if you sign at the beginning of the offseason and then you’re cut during the offseason. You’re not seeing any of that money because you haven’t played and again, you haven’t gone to practice.”
Then there’s simply the matter of constantly relocating as an NFL journeyman — a cost that begins to add up.
“You have to [decide], ‘We’re not gonna buy new furniture, we’d rather spend it on something for his body or a recovery tool,’” Bryce said. “It ended up helping us and helping him.”
